On the couch with Catherine

Since childhood Catherine has immersed herself in the world of art and design. She muses, “I don’t know how talented I was as a fine artist, but I was certainly prolific. In kindergarten I would make thousands of pieces of art and I was extremely proud of them; it was impossible for my mother to keep pace with my desire to have things put on the fridge at home.” These abstract scrawls had become tangible items by the age of six, when her mother taught her to use a sewing machine and thus encouraged a lifelong passion for textiles.

It was through a process of experience and elimination that Catherine came to
study Costume and Production Design at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic
Art. “When I found that calling, it became more of a vocation than an occupation,
I just loved that work. I really enjoyed that it combined the nexus of translating a
director’s vision, of translating historical morays, of working with actors and their
individual characterisations and physicalisation of the role, and then creating an
environment in which all these clothes could be set. So, I think it’s something that
was probably in my future, but it took me a little while to discover.”

The director-designer duo of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin has become
one of Hollywood’s most prolific and creative pairings. Not only their films but their
television series, theatre productions, documentaries, and even commercials
bring stories to life in nuanced ways, capturing the viewer’s imagination by vividly
expressing their own.

“In my work [inspiration] comes from an original idea or a story that Baz wants to tell, then it’s my job to help him translate what he’s seeing in his mind, in terms of the visual language of whatever project we’re working on. He’s a visualist, he has very strong ideas about how things should look, how things should appear on screen, or on stage, or online and that’s one of the things I really enjoy – that translation process from an idea or a concept into reality.”

Like Catherine’s previous Mokum collections and her life in general, The Royal Menagerie is a thematic and theatrical work channeling inspiration from different cultures and historical moments. Produced alongside the ‘Elvis’ biopic, the collection takes inspiration from the 1970s and “certainly the joyful exuberance that Elvis’s style brings to the table, I think that the textures and patterns reflect this enormously optimistic time. I love the idea of luxury that has an ironic-ness about it, that doesn’t take itself too seriously and stimulates your senses and makes you smile when you walk past, and I think that these mood boosters ultimately improve our quality of life.”

From seeking out original sources to reading books, analysing pictures, and exploring the social history surrounding a story, the process of bringing a film to fruition, especially one based on real events, involves intensive research. In true American style, a road trip come pilgrimage was essential. Significant locations included Elvis’s birthplace Tupelo, Mississippi and Memphis Tennessee, the respected home of soul, rhythm and blues, and rock’n’roll music, with its emotive Civil Rights Museum and of course Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.

“Being able to indulge in what Baz calls the ‘Elvis decorative aesthetic,’ this kind of baroque 70s view of the world which is very liberating because you are abounded by convention. Whether that’s looking at the incredible chain stitch embroidery on Elvis’s jumpsuits, their rhinestone embellishment, or the stain glass windows at Graceland.” Elvis’s love of peacocks and monkeys is on display throughout his home and informed the costumes, film sets, and ultimately the fabrics and wallpapers of this bold collection; for Catherine it is the details of everyday life which pique her interest and inspire her most.

In response to widespread illness, warfare, right-wing politics, and economic crisis we notice a desire for optimistic colours and patterns. “I think the late 60s and 70s are a nostalgic period because they represent a kind of lost glamour and exuberance, and a rejection of the utilitarian. Culturally America was on fire with the Factory and Andy Warhol and Halston … There’s a joy too, a sort of joyful exuberance ... But I think that in dark times you need to be even more conscious of living in the moment and being surrounded by beautiful and joyful things. I think that art and culture, telling our stories, celebrating, actually helps to elevate us as human beings.”

These ideas are realised in the eclectic and extremely versatile Royal Menagerie collection, presenting a modern interpretation of the brash glamour of the 70s in tactile velvets, animal prints, and decorative botanicals. “I think that you can go as exuberant and playful as you like, or you can lean into the clean liquid luxury of the plains within the collection.”

The interior narratives of Catherine’s homes have been influenced by their individual histories and locations. “For instance, in New York the house was built in 1850 right in the middle of the Victorian period and I felt when decorating that house, you needed to respond, albeit it in a modern way, to the inherent nature of the house. So, that style has an exuberant texture and opulence that I think is very particular to that time and place but then if you pivot to living in Queensland, on the Gold Coast, what’s appropriate in a Victorian brownstone is not appropriate in a fibro shack on the beach. They’re two completely different things and for me the most important thing about interior style is responding to the nature of the place. That doesn’t mean that you need to be a slavish re-creationist, it just means that you need to find something that naturally fits.”

Trends, however, demand little devotion. “Sometimes things can be overused or feel obvious, or they’ve been repeated too many times and don’t feel special enough. But I think I’ve learnt over the years that having hard and fast rules about what’s appropriate or tasteful or good is a dangerous road to hoe, because you never know when something that you have sworn is terrible is absolutely perfect.”

Noting her greatest learning as the surprising and humbling acceptance that there is always something new to discover, so long as you remain open to new ideas; “I think that ability to pivot, to be nimble, and to respond to the circumstances that appear before you are the things you have to keep reminding yourself of."