J.J. Martin Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. Today is the first episode of our Sexy Italian Summer miniseries. Today and over the next few Wednesdays, we're celebrating all things Italy, la dolce vita, cucina Italiana, and the incredible women who bring it all to life.
Today's guest is J.J. Martin, the founder of La DoubleJ, the Milan-based maximalist fashion and lifestyle brand rooted in vintage prints, spiritual energy, and the magic of Italian craftsmanship. She's also the author of the book, “Mamma Milano: Lessons from The Motherland.” J.J. might seem Milanese through and through, but she's also a California girl as you're about to learn. J.J. and I have known each other since our days at Harper's Bazaar Magazine, and I'm so thrilled to welcome her to the show. I'm a big fan of her dresses and housewares and pretty much everything she does. In just a minute, we'll learn what Sexy Italian Summer means to her, and what she's eating, drinking, and doing. We'll also talk about how she built her business, so maybe grab a spritz and some snacks and stay tuned.
If you're loving these Italian summer vibes, don't miss the upcoming issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine because it's all about Italy. The team and I are working on it as we speak, and I just finished editing several stories last night. We have a special guest editor-in-chief, so many great writers and photographers and recipe developers, and two amazing cover stars. Keep an eye on our Instagram for some sneak peeks. The Italy issue will be out in September, and you can pre-order now at cherrybombe.com. Snag a subscription or a single issue. The link is in our show notes.
This episode of Sexy Italian Summer is brought to you by Nonino, the family-owned female-led Italian distillery that's redefining what's in your glass this summer. Their secret? Spirits that take your aperitivo hour from basic to bellissima in one sip. As you're planning your aperitivo hour, there's no better place to start than with the famous paper plane cocktail. It's a cinch to make, as it’s equal parts Nonino Amaro, Aperol, Bourbon, and lemon juice. The paper plane is bright, bittersweet, and looks like summer in a glass. If a spritz is more your style, there's L'Aperitivo Nonino. Floral and fresh, L'Aperitivo Nonino can be topped with Prosecco or sparkling grapefruit soda and a squeeze of lime for a refreshing twist on the summertime classic. And then there's Grappa, the signature spirit of the Nonino family. They were the first to take the grape seeds and skin left from the winemaking process and create single-varietal Grappa. When you sip a Grappa made by the Noninos, you'll realize it's been crafted with all the care of a fine wine. Whether you sip it or use it in your cocktails, Nonino Grappa is the perfect finale to that aperitivo hour you're planning. Feel free to invite us over. One last thing. Nonino is the result of six generations of strong visionary women shaping the brand. Now that's a legacy. Cin cin to that.
Today's show is also presented by Square. We know so many of you are out there making culinary magic happen, running restaurants, bars, bakeries, and coffee shops. You're juggling staffing and sourcing while dreaming big. New locations, must have menu items, and more customers. We see your hustle and so does Square, the point-of-sale technology that helps you manage everything all from one place, from payments to staff, customers, and insights. A little bit about Square? 15 years ago, not all businesses could accept credit cards, hard to believe, but true. Square set out to change that, inventing the first mobile card reader of its kind. This allowed businesses to take payments anywhere and keep thriving. Square's tools unlocked countless opportunities for small businesses. Today, Square is helping more than 7 million businesses save time and be more efficient. Their tools are like having a tech-savvy sous chef for your business, one that helps automate emails and text the customers, run sales reports, and create loyalty programs. Just in time for summer dining, Square has a new lightweight point-of-sale device that literally fits in your pocket called Square Handheld that lets you take tableside orders, process payments, and manage inventory. When your restaurant is on your mind, which is probably all the time, think big and stress less with Square. Go to square.com/big to see how Square can help you. The link is in our show notes.
Now, let's check in with today's guest, J.J. Martin, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
J.J. Martin:
Hi, Kerry. I am thrilled to be here with you.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's jump right into it. Are you having a sexy Italian summer?
J.J. Martin:
Well, I just got off the plane after 10 days in Ireland, so I was having a sacred Irish tour and now I'm ready for my sexy Italian summer. What's great about Milan actually, living in Milan is that it's so convenient. You are able to have your vacation, your holiday excursions every weekend, and so I'm kind of doing the sexy Italian summer starting in April and finishing at the end of September.
Kerry Diamond:
Is it true Italy in August pretty much shuts down? Aside from people who work in hospitality, obviously.
J.J. Martin:
100%. I just checked in with a few people that actually are keeping the lights on at DoubleJ in Milan, and they said the city has completely shuttered. Everyone's packed out. I am in Florence today because I leave for a Vipassana meditation retreat tomorrow, which does not sound sexy at all, but is happening in Tuscany and I was just taking my dog on a walk in Florence and wanted to go pop into my favorite Mother Mary Chapel inside a church nearby, and it was all shuttered up and I was like, “What day is today? Tuesday?” And it's all shuttered up. It was so random, and my boyfriend's like, “Yep, that's August hours.” You don't really want to come to Italy in August, let's be honest, because all the Italians are on vacation, which means anywhere you go that is desirable is going to be a shitshow.
Kerry Diamond:
That's good advice. I didn't even know even the churches shut down.
J.J. Martin:
Even the churches shut down basically.
Kerry Diamond:
And how's your pup doing? I haven't seen her in so long.
J.J. Martin:
She's really good. She just had this surgery to open up her nostrils and her palato, which I guess is palate. They only told me in Italian what they were doing so she can breathe better.
Kerry Diamond:
Talking about the month of August and people coming or not coming in the month of August, why is it that Italy just gets more and more popular with every passing year?
J.J. Martin:
My theory is that Italy gives you the vibration and the frequency at which you are most attuned to joy and feeling good. So it's not only the sights are beautiful, the hotels are beautiful, the water is beautiful, and the food is delicious, because there's other parts of the world that have it, but the Italians themselves are such joyful beings and easygoing, naturally attuned to a non-stressful life, and naturally attuned to appropriately relaxing and taking the vacation life seriously. There's no work to be done on the vacation. You don't need to answer emails, you don't need to be responding to your phone, and it's just us, sort of other westerners who are just caught up in all of the to-do lists, and it's very hard for us to even relax when we are meant to be relaxing on our vacation. So when you're surrounded by, I've always known it's like that theory of entrapment energetically. When you're surrounded by those that are bobbing around in their own ease and harmonic grace, it's much easier for you to reflect and mirror that back.
Kerry Diamond:
And you are someone who is very attuned to vibes. Have you always been that way?
J.J. Martin:
I like a vibe. No, no, I wasn't like this at all. I mean, I grew up in a family of professional beach volleyball players, surfers. My dad was like a total hunter, camper, fisherman, very outdoorsy. I was a competitive gymnast when I was young until I graduated from high school. Then I was in a sorority. I mean, definitely not. I always say there's initiation by torture. I had a lot of experiences in my life that were very challenging from a mental, emotional, and even physical standpoint, starting with the kind of early death of my father, depression in high school, depression after high school, then a whole fertility situation that was just such a nightmare.
And through finally just sort of throwing the towel in and understanding that western medicine and science could only take me so far, and although those two channels are great for many things, they could not help me from a holistic standpoint. And I needed to kind of wake up and start feeding myself what my body, mind, heart, soul really needed. So that's how that happened. And it started maybe like 15 years ago. I mean, I've always been doing yoga, but that doesn't really count.
Kerry Diamond:
When did you launch La DoubleJ?
J.J. Martin:
I launched La DoubleJ exactly 10 years ago.
Kerry Diamond:
La DoubleJ to me has always seemed to operate on a higher frequency.
J.J. Martin:
She is a love child, and it was so funny when I started working with my first energy healer that was focused on fertility, it was hilarious. I mean, I did not give birth to a human baby, but I gave birth to La DoubleJ.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. Cherry Bombe's next Jubilee conference is taking place in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 28th. If you're new to Jubilee, it's our conference series that's all about connection, community, and celebrating the creatives who make the world of food and drink so vibrant. Our very first Jubilee took place in New York City in 2014, and it's grown into an amazing gathering that brings together incredible people year after year. All the details are at cherrybombe.com and the link is in our show notes. If you're a Bombesquad member, be sure to use your special member pricing when purchasing a ticket.
When you hear the term sexy Italian summer, what pops into your brain?
J.J. Martin:
I just think that the Italians are inherently sexy because they're free with their emotions. They're free with their bodies, they're free with their clothing. Oh, you know what they're not free on? Their food. They're very strict with their food, so don't try to add pineapple to your pizza or don't try to put 13 things on one plate like we do in America. That's the one thing where they really take things seriously. But in all other things, I think what's sexy is the authenticity and allowing that freedom to say and do what you want and to really be led by pleasure rather than pursuing performance, competition, and financial results. I think that's very sexy.
Kerry Diamond:
It's so interesting to hear that because Italy still is one of the epicenters of fashion, which is such a competitive business.
J.J. Martin:
I know. You'd think how do they get it all done? I don't know actually. I think there is a little bit of a rhythm to the wildness in all the madness, the sort of wisdom spins down as well. Milan is the epicenter of business getting done, so there are people that actually follow through and are on time and make things happen. And of course, many of them work at my company. The rest of Italy does not really operate in the same way that Milan does. It's very challenging getting things done in Rome or in Sicily or anywhere south of Rome. It's just challenging. You're going to have a totally different velocity for getting your home remodeled or getting the pizza delivered to your table. All of that is just on a different flow.
Kerry Diamond:
So people should get their chill on before they get on the plane to Italy.
J.J. Martin:
100%. And this is true when you land anywhere, especially places that have a strong energetic and Italy really does. Right before you land on your airplane, just ask for permission to enter, come with humility, come with a little bit of curiosity and wonder about what another culture is like and what the ancestors of this land may have to teach. Because it's a lot and there's so much wisdom that is wrapped up in their leisurely pace, which I had to learn the hired way. But when you talk about sexiness, they have sexy skin. They don't really go around with bras too much. It's totally fine to flash a little boob. That's sexy as well. I always find it so sexy when a woman is wearing something really dressy and she's in flats and no makeup and the hair is natural. The Italians are not nearly as done up.
Kerry Diamond:
When did you move to Italy and why?
J.J. Martin:
I'm such a cliche. I met an Italian guy while I was living and working in New York. We had a nine-month long distance relationship. I quit my job at Calvin Klein, moved to Italy with no job and started very in-depth, six hour one-on-one Italian lessons for three months until I could speak the language sort of.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you fluent today?
J.J. Martin:
I use this term that I'm fluent in cocktail Italian, so it's like I can have a conversation with anyone about anything. I remodeled a house in Italian. I speak to suppliers and partners in Italian. I used to interview Giorgio Armani in Italian, but if you put me in front of the news or a movie, I oftentimes get lost. I don't know why that is. That's what's so beautiful about the Italians, they delight in your efforts, and they make you feel so good about your trashy Italian and they're just excited that you want to participate and that you're trying. I think that says so much about the openheartedness, and I think honestly, that's sexy.
Kerry Diamond:
So what kept you in Italy?
J.J. Martin:
I stayed with a guy. We got married. He was my business partner when I started La DoubleJ. We have since divorced, but he's still my business partner and I see him every day.
Kerry Diamond:
That's incredible.
J.J. Martin:
Tell me about it.
Kerry Diamond:
What are some Italian summertime traditions you learned while living there?
J.J. Martin:
They really love the sunbed, the lounge chair, they just want to lay there and take in the sun like Apollo drinking from the sun. They're very leisurely on their vacations. They're not getting up early and doing yoga. They're just not doing that.
Kerry Diamond:
So there's no vacation itinerary. We have to do this, we have to check this off the list.
J.J. Martin:
That's the antithesis to an Italian vacation, and it's all very, let's see how we feel. Let's see if we really want to go to dinner. I'll tell you tomorrow at 7:00 P.M. if I want to have dinner at 9:00 P.M. I mean it's really like that. And what I also love about the Italians and their vacation habits is most of them have second homes, even if they're very humble, just like an apartment somewhere, like a room or whatever it is, or it's a castle, they're very generous with their friends and they're almost always hosting other people. So this art of entertaining and hosting is ingrained very early with the Italians. They're not having a good time unless their friends are around them.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. I'm loving all this. You are a big foodie. I want to talk about summertime food and drink. What are some of your favorite Italian dishes in summertime?
J.J. Martin:
Typically, the Italians are not big on salads, and since I was a vegetarian for 15 years of my time in Italy, and now I'm eating a little fish and meat just because of protein and my advanced years and needing to help my muscle mass, but trying to eat as a vegetarian who does not want a plate of pasta is nearly impossible in this country. So what I love about the summertime is that they bust out, well, first of all, what you need to understand, I'm sure you do, Kerry, is that the Italians eat seasonally. They do not eat pomegranates this time of year. They're not eating watermelon in December. They're not eating peaches in December. They're not even eating strawberries right now. That's way gone. What I really love about the summer is that this is just the most delectable month for those, it almost feels like high frequency food, the taste of the peaches in Italy, and they do those squished ones that look like discs rather than round balls.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, we call them donut peaches. Those?
J.J. Martin:
They are just delightful. And have you ever had peaches with mozzarella? It is the best combination, ever. So I love that. I mean, I just went down the little street to pick up some stuff because I just arrived from Ireland last night, and by the way, when I first moved to Italy, there was no takeout food. So it's like a miracle now that they kind of have prepared food to take away. And I got a stunning baby zucchini that have all been sliced into tiny little dime sized pieces that have all been sauteed with mint and lemon. Oh my God, it's so delicious. Also, what I love in Italy, what we call dandelion or let's say the quote unquote spinach family, the Italians have literally hundreds of varieties of that because a lot of them are growing local greens, local weeds, whatever grandma had in the back of the house that was growing, they fry up and saute in some olive oil and it's garlic and it's delicious, whether it's hickory or whatever.
They have all these strange names I've never even heard of Barba di Frate, like the priest's Beard is another one. Those really, really skinny greens. So it's just all of that just is delightful. I also love dairy. I'm not dairy-free, so all the fresh cheeses in Italy are incredible. I try to eat as much sheep and goat as possible. It's so delicious. They'll do a panzanella salad and things like that. I try not to have the bread and I try to just have quinoa or doing things with a lot more beans. All the bean salads. So that's what's so fun about, in Italy, they're very much focused on small plates that are very simply made, and you just put six of them out and everyone, and then you have whoever wants meat. You have a couple of prosciutto slices for those people and you're done.
Kerry Diamond:
And is that dinner or that's a aperitivo?
J.J. Martin:
That's dinner, or that's lunch, I mean, well, usually with dinner with non-vegetarians, they're probably barbecuing up a fish if they're by the seaside. It just depends on where they are. They're very local. In Puglia, you're not going to have meat. It's very rare to eat meat on the coast in Puglia, you're only going to ever have fish.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I want to talk about tomatoes. I mean, we associate tomatoes so closely with Italy. Does the whole country go tomato mad in August or is that something we've kind of invented in our heads?
J.J. Martin:
Well, they start going tomato mad about May, June, and yeah, they're fully expressed by now. There's a hardcore tomato season here from May through September, I would say, and of course it's excellent. In July and August, I'm very partial to the smallest little micro. They're great size tomatoes, they call them the Ciliegino from Sicily.
Sicily delivers very, very premium tomatoes. For fresh, if you want the canned ones that you have to get the San Marzano, all the Italians, all the Italians, that's a legit thing. That's not a made up American thing. A lot of made up American stuff like fettuccine alfredo doesn't even exist here. So sometimes the Americans will be taking on things and marketing them. In America, that's not even very Italian, but San Marzano tomatoes are totally legit and they are beloved all year round. And then here, I don't really eat those buffalo tomatoes. They're not my favorite ones, those huge ones that have those beautiful shapes. But the Italians use those to eat raw in salads. I mean, they have a tomato for every different dish. It's so funny. They have certain ones that they'll make a sauce with and then they have certain ones that they eat raw. I usually use those Ciliegino, those grape sized ones that are sort of oval. I love those for popping in your mouth like candy during the aperitivo.
Kerry Diamond:
That's another trend that's really taken hold, especially in a lot of restaurants.
J.J. Martin:
Did Americans not have aperitivo?
Kerry Diamond:
Like when you were in the U.S., nobody really talked about aperitivo, you didn't have restaurants-
J.J. Martin:
Yeah, we just had nuts. You just usually had peanuts and really bad chips. So if you get peanuts and bad chips, that means you're at a bad place in Italy.
Kerry Diamond:
So tell us what aperitivo means in Italy.
J.J. Martin:
The aperitivo is the cocktail hour. It's the time generally between seven and nine because that's when people have cocktails, because they don't eat dinner before nine. Much to my dismay that people are socializing and they're having one drink over a two-hour period, they're not having six drinks, let alone three drinks. It's very American to over drink on your cocktail hour or your cocktail two hours. The Italians are super moderate about alcohol except if you go to maybe Venice. In that area, they drink a lot.
Anyway, the art of the aperitivo actually was really, from what I've heard, what I've been told is a Milanese invention. So it's not something that is bountifully replicated in many other cities, although the trend has expanded. But basically it's this idea that you get fed a lot of little mini bites and tastes of delicious food while you're nursing your cocktail for a two hour period. What's interesting also is the Italians don't really drink wine during the aperitivo hour. I always found that really weird. Remember that they're very traditional in Italy around food. They don't want what's new, what's next? They want what's good.
Kerry Diamond:
So matcha hasn't taken hold. I was amazed when I was in Ireland this spring. It was matcha everywhere.
J.J. Martin:
No matcha has not taken hold. The only place that has matcha and almond milk or oat milk is really Florence with all of the tourists that come through there. I think probably now Rome does, and you can probably get it. I have seen it in a few places in Milan, but it's not diffuse.
Kerry Diamond:
We've got to talk about spritzes. You go out in New York City, you walk past a restaurant with a terrace or outdoor seating, and it seems like every table has a spritz on it.
J.J. Martin:
That's so cute. Americans love a trend. No, I mean obviously, Aperol spritz was born in Italy. It's definitely drunk. It's a Venetian drink. That's where it was born. So you really see it in and around Venice, the Milanese. I mean, yeah, of course people would order an Aperol spritz, but it's not the Americans. They go full in when someone's into blueberries or kale or what have you. Protein powder. Remember celery juice. I love America for the enthusiasm. It's not just like I'm going to have it once in a while. It's dope. I'm only having this, I'm going to have it all the time.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us some of your favorite summertime spots in Italy.
J.J. Martin:
So I've been spending a lot of time recently in Como. I mean, you would think that I would be always spending time there because it's 45 minutes away from my doorstep, but actually Como is a little bit, they use that as a verb by the Mionese. They don't love lakes, but I have spent a lot of time there and when I'm lucky enough to stay at Passa L'Acqua, where we did the pool area design and the owner is a dear friend and it's just the most amazing hotel on earth. I stay there, but it's a splurge. So normally I'll stay with friends or just grab an Airbnb and go with my boyfriend. We'd like to go cold plunging. There's an amazing waterfall there with Arctic water coming from the icy mountaintops above, so I'd love that. Or I like to go to Forte dei Marmi because my boyfriend lives in Florence. So we'll just jump in the car and head to Forte.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about Forte.
J.J. Martin:
So that is one of those places that is very, very typically Italian. I mean, it probably services the entire Florentine population of people for the summer months and it's an hour and 15 minutes away. I love it. Again, we like the outdoors and we like to cold plunge. So a half an hour away is an in incredible waterfall and cold pool that's just above Pietrasanta. And that's another really cute town that you need to check out. It's not on the water. It's named after the Holy Stone. This is all marble. Carrara Marble is all over here. You've got this adorable town, and then you've got all of these beach clubs on the sand in Forte di Marmi, and it's leisurely Italians riding their bikes. Nobody has a helmet. Everyone is going one mile an hour. They're in their swimsuits. It's so cute. And then you've got these beach clubs that everyone belongs to or, which I find very democratic. If you're just visiting, you can pay for the bed, the sunbed, and you stay for the day, which is so great. I love that.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about La DoubleJ because obviously wearing La DoubleJ as part of having a sexy Italian summer, do you do seasonal collections?
J.J. Martin:
Oh, indeed, we do. We have four collections a year. So we do fall, winter, spring, and summer collections, and then a whole bunch of special capsules for various partners that we do. So yeah, we launched our spring summer collection in Venice with Mytheresa and did a special capsule for them. And spring in the summer clothes are so easy for us to do at DoubleJ because people are so much more willing and open to wear color and print in those months. Even a hardcore minimalist is up for a pattern in the summer months. So that's I think when we really shine.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have a theme for the summer?
J.J. Martin:
The one for Mytheresa was all about Venetian palaces and palazzos. So there was a lot of that kind of just rich ornate patterning on the silks. And we did a lot of goddess dresses and one-shouldered gowns and fluttering sleeves. And then when we move into summer, I mean I'm wearing right now a dress that has both kind of like a tile print on it and then it has these snakes all around the border that are inspired by my ancient Egyptian mystery schoolwork because there's a goddess called Wadjet who I'm obsessed with and is part of my spiritual practice who I love sticking all of my little sacred symbols for my spiritual practice onto our clothes. That just gives an added lift. It's so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
An added layer of protection. I would guess.
J.J. Martin:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Yes.
J.J. Martin:
And then of course we have all the swimsuits. We've got the little flirty beach dresses. And then what we've launched recently that's doing really well is all of the jewelry because we're using stones that have energetic properties, amethyst and malachite and halite, and we've designed a lot of this in sacred symbols that are really powerful and meaningful, and it's just been beautiful to see how people really resonate with this. And it's just flying.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you wearing one of the pieces right now? I was trying to get a good look at that necklace.
J.J. Martin:
I sure am.
Kerry Diamond:
That's gorgeous, J.J.
J.J. Martin:
That's what you call a chen loop. So this is a circle with the line underneath and then three lines that denotes the physical, the energetic, and the spiritual. And this is a super protector symbol. You see it in ancient Rome, you see it in ancient Egypt. It's been used for 5,000 years. It's incredible. What is great also about this jewelry is that it's 24 karat gold plate, so it's not solid gold, which means it's a lot less expensive than a lot of jewelry that's going on and around, but you still get that high frequency from the gold plate, which I love.
Kerry Diamond:
And what is that beautiful kind of burgundy colored stone that's set in it?
J.J. Martin:
That's actually enamel. So this one is an enameled shiny enamel, but many of our other necklaces and earrings in the collection have stones that do have energetic properties. This one, it has the energy because of the symbol, the sacred symbol of the Chen loop.
Kerry Diamond:
It's so beautiful. How did La DoubleJ come to be? You were a writer. You were a journalist. That's how we got to be friends.
J.J. Martin:
Exactly. We were both working at Harper's Bazaar, breeding ground for wonderful women. I might add, yes, I was a writer, but I had been collecting vintage clothing and vintage jewelry for like 20 years and amassed a huge collection, and I decided to put it all online and shoot it all on the creative women of Milan that I was obsessed with. But that Glenda Bailey or Tony Chambers, or my editors at the WSJ didn't really want to do stories on because they were sort of not advertisers and they weren't super famous, but I found them to just be the coolest people and I had so much to learn.
So I shot these women wearing our vintage clothing and we would shoot them in their homes and then we would interview them on how they decorated their home, how they hosted, how they designed their table for dinner parties, how they got dressed, how they wanted to mix and match vintage into their wardrobes. And it became this whole sort of treaty on how to live like an Italian and all the rules of the Sciura, which are secrets of the Italian elite housewives. By that I mean these are people that would not go on a “Housewives” reality TV show.
Kerry Diamond:
Have you learned all the secrets of the elite Italian housewives?
J.J. Martin:
F-yeah. Are you kidding me? I mean, all the best ones to know a hundred percent and the classic Sciura does not work, but the ones that I interviewed were all in having creative jobs, which I thought was so cool the way that they were maniacs about their table and how they entertained and what the courses would be for the food. But then they were juggling architecture studios or design galleries or were stylists. I just found that so cool.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about the brand today versus where you started.
J.J. Martin:
So now we are a full lifestyle brand that sells new clothing, new homeware or tabletop. So we make Murano glasses, we make porcelain in Verona, we do jewelry, as I mentioned, we do puffer jackets, everything 100% made in Italy. So it's always been a love letter to Italy, this company. And at the beginning it was the creative women and now it's all about these beautiful historic traditional artisans and suppliers on the side. We are serving a healthy dose of spirituality and consciousness with our spiritual, or let's just say our community that's called the Sisterhood.
Kerry Diamond:
I asked about the summer collection and seasonal collections earlier because I feel like you, unlike other fashion brands do keep a lot of things in your lineup season after season.
J.J. Martin:
Yes we do. We absolutely do. So a couple of things that I think are cool about DoubleJ is we don't go on sale. And you might be like, that's annoying, but actually it's great if you bought full price because the dress that you loved and that we know other women love, we're going to keep that in stock. Anything that is a bestseller and is awesome, we reassort and we make sure that our reorder button actually works. And the reason why we don't go on sale is because we've got the right price to begin with all of our clothes, all of our products, well, especially the materials are made in a silk factory in Lake Como where they are printing for the luxury world's top brands. And if you look at DoubleJ's prices and you look at some of these outrageous prices that you're seeing in some luxury right now, it's pretty astounding.
And to me, this feels almost like it's our ethical way of operating the company is to offer the customer the right price to begin with and for it to be very fair and to support these Italians who have wonderful working conditions, great vacation, eating, wonderful meals, and you get that circular economy of just a beautiful shared high frequency. And I think it really rubs off. I think people understand it when they get the clothes, they put these on, and our clothes are friendly, they're bright, and even when we don't do bright, because now we even do black dresses and we do 10 varieties of a white shirt, even when you're doing that, you put it on and you just feel good. Just like Italy makes people feel good. DoubleJ makes people feel good. I'm not here to shame anyone. I'm not here to tell people they can't join my club. They can't sit at our table. Everyone is welcome, whether you're 18, 80, if you're cool, if you're not cool, if you're short, if you're tall, if you're curvy, whatever. Everyone is welcome. That's how I really feel about this.
Kerry Diamond:
That's beautiful. J.J. What gives you the confidence not to follow the conventional norms of the fashion industry?
J.J. Martin:
I mean, I feel like I've always been kind of an outsider, and since I started from a journalistic standpoint, how many times did I interview Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Donatella Versace, Dolce, & Gabbana. I have been in their homes, in their studios, in their ateliers, at their runway shows. So I never kind of wanted to jump in and be like, I'm a designer. That would be the most ridiculous thing ever. So I just started really kind of with my nose down and I'm like, well, I'm offering this, and now we're doing that, and I always, always speak in the word. We put this collection together, we designed this dress. We are now putting Gong temples on the top of our offices and opening Divine Mother Caves in the bottom of our stores, not my store. Our store.
Kerry Diamond:
Tabletop has become very important to you and La DoubleJ. Has Tabletop always been a personal interest of yours?
J.J. Martin:
Well, that I really learned from the Italians, from those Sciura when I first arrived and I didn't know how to cook, and I was literally panicked because we were eating out every night or ordering pizza, and there were no other options. I started bringing cookbooks to bed, reading them. I remembered my first important one was “The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook,” and I brought that to my bed in 2002 and read it like a novel. I had a lot of work to do. So whenever I was a guest at anyone's house, and especially as my job as a journalist and going into all these incredible homes, watching Rosita Missoni make lunch for 12 people by herself, I mean I really started to take notes. That's when I started getting obsessed about it. Then when we launched it at DoubleJ, I also understood that I wanted to do it in a way that was me. I don't think the Italians were doing as wacky tables as what we have provided. So I always add a little bit of California zhuzh and jazz hands to whatever I have learned from the very stylish Italians.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you a mix and match tabletop gal or matching all the way?
J.J. Martin:
Oh, mix and match, definitely. I mean, that's the name of our game. That's really the heart and soul of DoubleJ is the mix and match, and I've always adored doing that. I used to do that with vintage a lot. And then when we started with a new clothing, that's what this game is all about, putting a small print with a big print and doing something, adding a pop of color here or there, and you do that with a Murano glass or you do that with a napkin, or you can do that with a blouse or jeans and a blazer and a jacket and a coat. So there's all these different layers and all these different universes that you can create based on mood. And that's what's very cool about the tabletop is that you can kind of treat it as the closet for your house because you absolutely can change your tabletop much more frequently than you can change your couch.
Kerry Diamond:
That's a great point. Did I read your launching stationary soon?
J.J. Martin:
Yes, we are. We have a wonderful collaboration with an Ecuadorian artist called Beto Val. He's this adorable guy. He does not speak a lick of English. He kind of understands Italian a little bit, but not really. We basically were doing sign language and hugs. We hugged it out and he made us all these fantastic creatures that we have put on a line of decorative objects. So we have decorative plates and you have all these vases and you've got cork placemats that are gorgeous as well as stationary and they're really fun. There's turtles that are flying, there's flowers that are sprouting parrots. There's all these weirdo, fantastical creatures.
Kerry Diamond:
How did you two find each other?
J.J. Martin:
I think that our team found him on Instagram because we were looking for, we're always kind of looking at artists. We collaborate with a lot of artists, frequently, and he was just one of the names that popped up and we were like, yeah, let's do it.
Kerry Diamond:
When does that launch, J.J.?
J.J. Martin:
So that comes into stores September, October.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. You've been on the road quite a bit for work and for pleasure and spiritual reasons. Curious how you pack for all that travel. Do you have any packing tips?
J.J. Martin:
Oh my God, I have become a packing ninja. You have no idea. I mean, you should see where I am right now. I am in a transit period in Florence, where the incoming Ireland huge suitcase that had to have all of the heavy winter goods just came in. And by the way, this is not my home, this is my boyfriend's home. Then I had brought down a smaller bag with all of my meditation stuff for the Vipassana silent retreat for 10 days. And then afterwards I'm going to a volcanic island with my boyfriend, and that's a whole other set because that's definitely sexy Italian summer and has nothing to do with Irish or meditating gear. So this requires heavy organization. It really helps when you've got a fashion company and there's like a PDF with all the looks and I can circle things and then we can pull from there.
Then we start folding. I love those zip pouches or all the small stuff that typically gets lost. All my workout gear goes in one of those zip pouches, all of my underwear and socks goes in one of those, all the swimwear goes in another. They're just those chic ones that came with my Paravel luggage that is sustainable. And by the way, in Ireland, we were changing the hotels every day for 10 days. It was a nightmare from a packing standpoint. So you have to be so rigorous about all the pants right here, all the tops right here, all the dresses on this place. You just have to be super, super smart about it. So I travel with a hard suitcase. Then I travel with a larger, what I call the big mama tote at DoubleJ, which is like an open bag that doubles as a beach bag wherever I go. And that's where a lot of just like tuggy things like wraps for what I need for either sitting on the beach or in the airplane.
And then I like these other pouches that we do that are kind of dressy pouches at DoubleJ, that double as, okay, it can hold all of my cosmetics, but then I can also use this as a pouch when I'm going out and I want to put my cell phone and wallet and earphones and lip gloss in.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you a folder or a roller of clothes?
J.J. Martin:
I'm a total folder, and I'm really into clothes that do double duty, and that's something that we're really into at DoubleJ, that there's the long sleeve bathing suit that doubles as a body suit. There's a lot of bathing suits that you can be worn them with skirts or shorts as ready-to-wear. That's a huge game-changer. Then things that are reversible are great too. We do a lot of reversible things, whether it's a dress that you can wear with a V in the front or a high neck or it's a poncho that's one print on one side and a solid on another. So that way, you get two in one.
Kerry Diamond:
J.J., last thing I want to talk about with you, you are a very spiritual person and love to share spiritual and healing practices with people. You're very generous with all that information. You mentioned this a little bit earlier, but when did that first become part of your life?
J.J. Martin:
Well, so it became part of my life when I was suffering with the infertility, I would say. So that was a while ago, but then it became something that I felt compelled to share with the world during COVID because we were all at home in March of 2020, especially in Milan. I don't know if you remember, but no one could leave their houses at all, ever. And it was super gnarly and people were freaking out over here. And I remember my editor at the time was like, I think all that weird stuff you're doing, it might be helpful for people. Why don't you talk about it? And plus we don't have any content to run. So I got on Instagram and I just started downloading and sharing what my hacks and tools and tips and techniques were. I mean, a lot of it is just how to, I would say 50% of your spiritual practice is just learning how to handle fear, seriously about everything.
And once you're out of a state of fear, then your heart opens and you can receive and transmit love so much easier. And that is the spiritual practice. I think every single religion, every kind of weird multi-dimensional hack is all getting at that at the end goal. How do we as humans learn to react to what's going on within and without us with love? So we have been since those live recordings on Instagram, doing a lot of online activations and workshops, and then when we opened our store with the Divine Mother Cave, we started taking a lot of that activity into live circles. Over the last five years, I've hosted over 250 spiritual events for DoubleJ. So it's anything from 10 people to 50 people, sometimes, sometimes 200 or 300 online, but it's usually smaller groups, about 15 or 20. And it's all about introducing people to the tools, the techniques, and the teachers that they need in order to raise their vibration and expand their consciousness. And there's a million different ways you can do that. Not one of them is right.
It's all about finding your energetic fingerprint and your signature and what resonates with you. So we like to give people a lot of different things like when we go to Paris in October, we're going to be doing another in Nantucket. When I was just there for two days of a Trump show, we did two days of a Healer Hive with the Island's Healer community and offered 20 different sessions over a two-day period open to everyone for free on the island and part of our Sisterhood community. And it was just exceptional and people doing wound cleansings things they'd never even heard of before.
A lot of people don't even know what their chakras are and they don't even know why that's relevant and how they actually need to think of their energy body and cleansing it every day the way they would brush their teeth. So these are the things that we do with our Sisterhood community. I'm really into it. I would much rather be captain of the community than co-CEO and creative chief of a fashion business, but I guess I'm just doing all of it and that makes sense for now. And one day I'd like to open a retreat center in Italy and you can come.
Kerry Diamond:
That would be amazing. If folks are listening to you and thinking that what you're saying is really resonating with them, but they don't know where to start. I know you said there's no right or wrong, but where is a good place to start?
J.J. Martin:
So first of all, sign up to the Sisterhood. It's free. It's on our website. And what's so cool about it is not only are you getting access when you sign up to my Healer book, so there's like 50 healers all over the world that I recommend and have vetted and you can read about them. Then there's a practice page. It says, let's practice. Go to that page and you will find over 50 practices in everything from breath work, sound healing, meditation, et cetera. And you can just dive in. These are free classes on the DoubleJ.
And on top of it, we offer access to our Sisterhood Academy classes. Those are live classes that we do. We've been doing it about monthly. And then if you don't catch the Sisterhood Academy Live, then it goes into the practice page so you can catch it there. Now we've opened up our Gong Temple on top of our headquarters in Milan where you guys can come visit us. We have four classes a week in meditation, sound, yoga. We have a lot of visiting practitioners. Taryn Toomey came in. It was great to have her. And so you can visit us in Milan, and we're starting to see more of this in America as we're opening our stores.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, that's incredible that those resources are free. J.J., it was great to see you and chat with you.
J.J. Martin:
Thank you so much, honey. I adore you. And now that we are opening stores in America, I feel like I can see you and all of your listeners, your readers, your fans a lot more. And yeah, let's just spread the love, Kerry, and spread the good vibes.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you to J.J. Martin for kicking off our Sexy Italian Summer miniseries. You can follow La DoubleJ on Instagram. And if you want to learn more about the Sisterhood and access J.J.'s healer book and practice guide, the link is in our show notes. Tune in next Wednesday to hear my conversation with chef Angie Rito of Don Angie and San Sabino in New York City. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Special thanks to The Studio Portland in Maine. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu, and our talent guru is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. Ciao Bella.