Catherine Martin is one of Australia's outstanding creative talents, working as a production designer, film producer and costume designer on significant film, theatre and event productions including Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, La Bohème and Australia. Martin's creative collaboration with husband Baz Luhrmann has produced a visually lush, musically exhilarating, poetic style of storytelling. A key feature of these productions is the costuming and sets which reflect the extensive research and inventive interpretation of references drawn from across history and cultures.

The costumes for Strictly Ballroom (1992) (92/1900-92/1939) and Moulin Rouge! (2001) (2008/199/1-17) were acquired by the Museum in 1992 and 2008 and this latest donation enhances the collection with a selection of costumes and accessories from the films Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Australia (2008) and the USA production of Puccini's opera La Bohème (2003-2004).

This collection reflects the diverse approaches Martin and her team take in costuming film and theatre productions. In Romeo + Juliet, Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo wears an off the shelf Prada shirt that has been skillfully distressed to appear dirty and bloodied, while his companions the Montague boys appear in colourful screen printed and hand painted Hawaiian shirts. The Australia costumes reflect the design and production teams' careful research into 1930s and 1940s clothing which they have skillfully re-interpreted and reproduced for the film. In contrast the costumes for the four key characters from La Bohème are an eclectic mix of contemporary mass market work wear, designer labels and newly created garments.

The Catherine Martin collection also includes outfits and accessories from her personal wardrobe which reflect her romantic style, knowledge of fashion history and passion for handcrafted, artisanal textiles; an aesthetic that is also a key part of her designs for film, theatre, interior design and fashion. The collection includes outfits Martin wore to premiers and award nights including the evening dress she wore to the 74th Academy Awards where she received two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.

Catherine Martin personal wardrobe will enhance the Museum's contemporary fashion and dress collection with significant examples of work from Australian and international designer labels including Easton Pearson, Collette Dinnigan, Willow, Akira Isogawa, Chanel, Mui Mui, Jill Sander, Comme des Garçons and Prada.

- Glynis Jones, Curator, Fashion and Dress, December 2010

Catherine Martin works with a production team on each of her projects.

Costumes designed by Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie in Sydney in 2003. Made by Wardrobe Department at Iona, Darlinghurst, Sydney.

This costume was designed for Baz Luhrmann's USA production of Puccini's opera La Bohème. Based on the play 'Scenes de la Vie de Bohème' by French poet and writer Henri Murger, La Bohème is the story of the doomed love affair between Mimi and Rodolfo, an impoverished young poet. Luhrmann's Broadway (2003) and Los Angeles (2004) versions are based on the production he mounted in 1990 for The Australian Opera in Sydney.

Jessica Comeau rotated the role of Musetta in USA productions of La Boheme with Chlöe Wright.

Catherine Martin was born in Sydney in 1965. She completed a Diploma Design course at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney. It was here that she met and started working on projects with her future husband and creative partner Baz Luhrmann (b 1962).

Martin's first design project with Luhrmann was his experimental opera entitled Lake Lost devised for the Australian Opera in 1987, for which she and her co-designer Angus Strathie won a Victorian Green Room Award for Best Design. She has designed all of Luhrmann's subsequent productions including Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996) for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction, A Midsummer Night's Dream (various season's 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2003) Moulin Rouge (2001) for which Martin won Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and best Production Design, La Bohème (various productions, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004) and Australia (2008).

Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann married in 1997 and in the same year co-founded their film, theatre and entertainment production company Bazmark Inc and its subsidiaries Bazmark Live and Bazmark Music.

Red silk satin, floor length cocktail dress with fitted bodice, dropped waist and full skirt with a layer of black tulle, petticoat and sash. Dress has a sweetheart neckline and off the shoulder capped sleeves that are an extension of the neckline. Wide collar that extends over sleeves. Black beaded velvet shoulder straps. Fitted bodice has decorative buttons in own fabric. Zip and hook and eye fastening at rear. Sash is attached with material and metal press studs. Lining is black.

Red silk satin, below knee length, pencil skirt. Zip and hook and eye fastening, centre back. Black cotton lining.

Black fox fur shawl with lace insertions in back and fox tails at front. Black satin lining.

Pair of long, black, leather gloves. 120mm opening on underside of wrist area with black, plastic, button fastenings. Un-hemmed.

Pair of black, satin, mesh and suede, pointed toe, stiletto heel, shoes. Vamp is mesh, embellished by black, glass beads and black, plastic sequins. Vamp is trimmed with black suede. Black, satin back of shoe is separated from vamp, shaped to cup the heel. Shoe heel is satin, embellished with red diamantes and reinforced by metal, painted black on underside.

Black, wide brimmed, hat. Front and back of brim are folded up. Brim is of black, plastic mesh, acetate satin lace applied to underside, nylon tulle sewn to top side. Crown of hat is of black cotton mesh, acetate satin lace applied to top side. A silver hat pin with glass, black beads is through crown of hat. Thin metal wire, covered with black cotton on underside of hat to fasten to head.

Designed: Martin, Catherine; ; 2003

Designed: Strathie, Angus;

2011/43/129

2003