Now and then, the Moon glides across the Sun, slipping gently into its path as daylight softens the Earth around us. Beneath the shifting of light is a hint of the spiritual—a hush that invites us to look up, breathe, and feel the rare stillness of cosmic alignment.
J.J. Martin channeled the eclipse for La DoubleJ, opening her second US store in Highland Park Village. Part spiritualist, part designer, part visionary, Martin grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Italy two-dozen years ago. Journalism brought her to the country of food, wine, fashion, and cultural heritage.
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“The company,” birthed 10 years ago, “has had a lot of different lives,” she says. Initially launched as a shoppable magazine to sell her collection of vintage clothing and jewelry, Martin doubled down on the women of Milan, from designers to stylists to architects, whom she featured in the magazine. “All creative women who are amazing,” she says.
Spurred by the craftspeople in her midst, she started designing new clothes with the swing dress as her first silhouette—sashaying effortlessly from day to evening in her vintage-inspired maximalist styling. Homeware followed, then “conscious-raising activities.” Her first brick and mortar shop opened in Milan in 2021, followed by shop-in-shops at Harrod’s and other premium department stores. In April, she dipped her toe into the US with her first standalone boutique in Palm Beach, its sunny climate a perfect playground for her unabashed use of colors and patterns. “Color has a frequency; pattern does as well,” Martin asserts.
Last month, Highland Park Village welcomed her first Texas outpost expanding her “Raise Your Vibration Station” under a starry spotlight. Vergani-List architects interpreted her celestial vision featuring custom furniture, wallcoverings, and “Solar Crowns” by Milanese artist JoAnn Tan for the dressing rooms and windows.
A “galactic portal” designed as a hand-embroidered beaded eclipse lures shoppers to an accessories station showcasing a limited-edition collaboration with Austin-based Allen boots. But that’s just the beginning of the hypnotic experience. Inside, find her entire homeware collection featuring eight porcelain dinnerware families, including Napoli Rosa and the ribboned spumoni-esque patterned Poseidon, alongside porcelain vases, and Murano-blown vessels. She says the charger, dinner plate, and soup plate, “give people the opportunity to do degrees of maximalism,” by incorporating their own white china with her Verona-made collection and full line of linen. The set of six dessert plates is great for gifting, or adding to your own collection.
Known for her use of sacred symbols, the 24k gold-plated jewelry collection, resides in the middle of the shop surrounded by the bravado of flirty patterned dresses, twinsets, jackets, pajamas, and ponchos. “We use the scarab a lot—subliminally throwing in these frequencies,” to adorn earrings, necklaces, rings, brooches, and bracelets.
In Dallas she reflects on the warmth she experienced with the kindred spirits of the women of Italy. “It’s not a mean girl fashion company,” she laughs. “This entire endeavor is about giving people an energy-elevating experience,” a pursuit that seamlessly connects to The Sisterhood. “The eclipse signifies deep transformation,” she explains, extending this vision through access to her network of teachers and energy healers, as well as classes—such as inviting The Sisterhood to Breathe Meditation and Wellness during her grand opening fortnight. Her ultimate desire, Martin says, is to give “Access the higher parts of ourselves.”