Carolyn Murphy Brings Her Minimalist Eye to La DoubleJ’s Maximalist World

2 min read

There was a little kismet in Carolyn Murphy and J.J. Martin finding each other. When they met, Murphy had recently lost her home in the Palisades to the devastating California wildfires, not far from where Martin grew up. That encounter brought them together as friends and now as collaborators, as the pair teamed on a holiday capsule collection, “Sisterhood of Light.”

“She was the dose of joy that I needed,” the model tells ELLE of Martin. “We love a little woo-woo here, a little woo-woo there. But also what I love about J.J. is how grounded she is at the same time. And she’s obviously got great taste.”

While Murphy and Martin instantly hit it off, La DoubleJ’s maximalist, kaleidoscopic world is a departure from Murphy’s own more pared-back style. “I’m kind of a minimalist,” Murphy remembers telling Martin. “I don’t really wear pattern and print.” Martin laughed, and the two began exploring how to fuse their worlds.

The capsule interprets La DoubleJ’s signature pieces, most notably its Swing Dress, through Murphy’s lens. The A-line maxi, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and was the brand’s first dress silhouette, gets a luminous update in the Super Swing, a showstopper with embroidered dégradé sequins that shift from silver to gold. That luminous sensibility carries over to the Opera Swing, which features a gilded fil coupé jacquard, and the Mini Supreme Swing, a mod-inspired number embroidered with hibiscus blooms.

To bring the collection to life, Murphy modeled the designs at Villa Tarlarini, where photographer Kate Bellm captured the campaign against lush greenery and picturesque seascapes. Murphy looked to Marisa Berenson and Veruschka, whose influence can be seen in her wavy 1970s hair, for the shoot—an inspiration that spoke to her idea of world-building for the holidays and beyond.

“There’s [an] escape and fantasy with it,” she explains. “Even for the Carolyn dress, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe this is Robin Wright Penn in Princess Bride. Oh, maybe this will be a great wedding dress for somebody.’ And buying me a martini dress with this jacket is so cool. To me, that’s Hollywood.”

The capsule gave Murphy a chance not only to step outside her usual style, but also to find a creative outlet as she rebuilt her home and explored what it means to get dressed now. “I’m a fashionista of the early ’90s, and I love anything that’s classic with a twist,” she says. “I had these style icons back then. Carolyn Bessette—who I know has been super popular of late—and Narciso [Rodriguez] were actually friends of mine. They were my earliest definition of, ‘Oh, that’s what I want to look like, and that’s how I want to dress.’”

Now, the model is defining her own style. “After all these years of being dressed by people and being told what to wear, you get to a place in life where you’re like, ‘Well, I’m going to define my own style.’ I just think I’ve always been pretty consistent about that.”