Notes

The Elvis Costume: A Conversation with Costume Designer Catherine Martin
Baz Luhrmann’s new film, ELVIS 2022, is an ode to the legendary Elvis Presley. No one could have accomplished the task of bringing the iconic singer's voice on screen. We spoke to Academy Award-winning costume designer Catherine Martin (Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby) to discuss her work on the film, how she was able to balance the exact reproduction with artistic interpretation, a Luhrmann trademark, and the experience of working alongside her husband, director and co-writer, Baz.





It was an uphill task to capture the arc of Presley's life through his clothes. The costumes had to be bold and daring as well as demonstrating how he progressed from the boy from Tupelo to the flashy entertainer who wowed audiences at the Louisiana Hayride and in Las Vegas. This was an enormous project for Martin who had to come up with a variety of costumes for three different decades.





Angie Marchese, Graceland's head curator and Archivist, was a tremendous source of the inspiration. She was able to gain a true sense of Presley's clothing and what it meant about his character. She collaborated closely with Austin Butler, who played Elvis in ELVIS to ensure that her outfits matched his.





Martin's pink-colored jumpsuit for the Hayride was among his most difficult outfits to create. In the 1950s, a conservative America it was commonplace for the color of a man's skin could be seen as effeminate however when paired with the intense rock'n'roll tunes and erotic dance movements that Martin performed on stage, it became a powerful symbol for the way that the young King was battling against social norms.





Martin constructed the suit by hand, using a cotton blend with black piping on the jacket and cuffs. She used the same style of chain-stitching that was used on Belew's original suits and even consulted with the same company that made the actual suits for Bill Belew to ensure that they were authentic.





The Butler's shape was the main feature of the outfit. The pants and sleeves were tailored to the arms of Martin. Martin wanted his jumpsuit to feel as comfy as a second-skin.





The greatest achievement of the film was to bring out the essence of a man everyone knew and loved. This was due to the talent and commitment of Martin and her team, who were able to create such an authentic look.





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