Because we are a bomb squad of rambunctious prints and unruly patterns, throwing a launch party for LaDoubleJ.com’s collaboration with mytheresa.com could never happen in a clean white box. No way. Instead, Chez DoubleJ popped up inside a decadent, jewel-box apartment overlooking Paris’ dramatic Notre Dame, a property gifted to us for one magical night by a fairy godmother in Los Angeles. The apartment’s maximalist interiors –lined in Pierre Frey’s Ming-printed silk fabric, eight David Hockneys, and life-sized taxidermy animals from Deyrolle (all of which died naturally before being stuffed, by the way)– combusted with our very own collection of vintage Ugo Correani jewelry that we hung absolutely everywhere, including around the necks of classical marble busts, human-proportion Moroccan statues, and under the paws of a giant furry tiger standing on a desk in the master bedroom.
There was a method to this crammed madness: Correani is one of our great vintage jewelry finds, and 20 of his most extravagant pieces designed for Gianni Versace and Chanel will go on sale on mytheresa.com starting Feb. 10th. Meanwhile, another stash of Correani treasures are already on sale at LaDoubleJ.com—many of which beckoned throughout Chez DoubleJ for the evening and were readily tried on by guests. Good vibes radiated throughout this 18th-century squash: iconic fashion journalist Suzy Menkes deftly ducked as waiters passed sliding trays of champagne over the heads of Elizabeth Olsen, Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, Erin O’Connor, Daisy Lowe and Elena Perminova (whose legs were longer than the entire apartment). Designers Alessandro Sartori, Brian Atwood, Bruno Frisoni and Umit Benan crammed into a corner with another enormous tiger, while Caroline de Maigret floated by in a cape and Francesco Risso considered stealing the hatted gibbon monkey in the foyer that matched his Comme des Garçon soldier boy suit.
So was there hysteria? Absolutely! But the priceless china and French antiques shook along in synch with the party’s excitement, miraculously not breaking, as everyone stayed on in the cozy delirium way past the party’s bedtime. Welcome to the world of LaDoubleJ.com, everyone!
– J.J. Martin
