Words by Allegra Salvadori
Milan is a city in constant metamorphosis — historic palazzi wrapped in terrazzo and stucco, creative ateliers hidden behind courtyards, international energy colliding with deeply Italian traditions. For JJ Martin, American-born journalist turned Milanese designer and founder of La DoubleJ, the city is nothing short of a rebirth. “It’s like a snow shaker that’s been shaken,” she says. “There is so much newness — from a human, cultural, and creative standpoint. Some shifts excite me, particularly the influx of internationals, but some make me nervous that we’ll erode the traditions and nuances I’ve fallen in love with.”
Her Milan begins in ritual. At home, JJ starts her day in a dedicated meditation room, weaving together mindfulness, movement, and energy cleansing. From there, she moves to the La DoubleJ Gong Temple, a sanctuary above the brand’s headquarters where yoga, sound healing, and meditation classes unfold for both employees and the public. “What we’re trying to do in this space,” she explains, “is replicate what was missing in our former offices — a place for all of our teachers and healers to congregate.”
Daily life is punctuated by small pauses. A coffee at Leonardo, her neighborhood spot, or the top-tier cappuccinos at Caffè Pasticceria Cucchi, where La DoubleJ has even staged joyful takeovers, are woven into her Milanese rhythm. Meals, too, reflect intimacy and heritage: dinner at La Latteria, where an Italian grandmother serves simple dishes, or a night at Bice, whose hostess often wears La DoubleJ herself.
The creative heart of the city is why JJ fell in love with Milan 24 years ago — and why she dedicated her book Mamma Milano to capturing its spirit. “It gives an insider’s peek into everything I’ve learned from the architects, furniture and fashion designers, and spectacular homes here,” she says. Her friends at Dimore Studio, Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci, embody this pulse, creating some of the most visionary furniture and interiors in town.
For inspiration, JJ looks to Milan’s built heritage. “Everything designed by Gio Ponti, Piero Portaluppi, and even the fascist architecture of the 1930s is really inspiring,” she notes. Decorative surfaces and clean architectural lines coexist in Milan’s streets and entryways — a constant reminder, as she puts it, to simply wander and look.
But Milan also shelters sanctuaries. JJ delights in the unexpected flamingos of Villa Invernizzi, the celestial dome of the Planetarium in Giardini Pubblici, and the monumental cedar trees of Parco Sempione, where she sits barefoot to “anchor down and practice rooting.” Even within her own La DoubleJ store on Via Sant’Andrea, she has created the Divine Mother cave — a space lined with illustrations of Quan Yin, Kali, Mother Mary, and angels.
Her home mirrors this duality of discipline and exuberance. Located in a 1910 Neo-Gothic palazzo, its entryway mosaics and frescoed walls give way to terrazzo marble floors and soaring stucco ceilings. Inside, the apartment bursts with color, pattern, and texture: La DoubleJ glassware, porcelain, patterned cushions, and her collection of vintage jewelry and furniture all layered into a space that is, unmistakably, her own.
For JJ Martin, Milan is not just a fashion capital or a design hub — it is a place of personal and collective transformation. As she distills it: “Rebirthing. Cozy. Surprising.”
