THE ROYAL MENAGERIE - Digital Brochure

The Royal Menagerie

“An exploration of maximalism by Catherine Martin by Mokum.”

Contents

ARTICLE - THE ROYAL MENAGERIE

ARTICLE - FOR THE LOVE OF VELVET

ARTICLE - ON THE COUCH WITH CATHERINE

ARTICLE - HUGH STEWART | BEYOND THE LENS

ARTICLE - THE ELVIS AESTHETIC

PRODUCT - BENGAL TIGER

PRODUCT - JUNGLE ROOM

PRODUCT - LEOPARDO

PRODUCT - MONARQUE

PRODUCT - MONKEY BUSINESS WALLPAPER

PRODUCT - PANTHERA

PRODUCT - ROYAL PEACOCK

PRODUCT - ROYAL PEACOCK WALLPAPER

PRODUCT - TENNESSEE TUSSAH

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The Royal Menagerie

The French-language Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter of 1782 defines a menagerie as an ‘establishment of luxury and curiosity.’ The Royal Menagerie, is a compendium of luxury textile and wallpaper designs featuring peacocks, monkeys, tigers, and leopards.

Created under the masterful direction of Academy Award winner, Catherine Martin, the collection is inspired by the film, Elvis. Directed by her husband Baz Luhrmann, the film depicts the rise of one of the most significant and enduring cultural icons of the last century, Elvis Presley.

Catherine and her design team meticulously researched Elvis’s beloved Memphis home and stage

costumes for the film, finding inspiration in the design periods of his lifetime and particularly embracing the decadence of the 1970s. Illustrating the glamour of Elvis’s rock and roll lifestyle are plush, richly coloured patterned velvets, animal prints, an exquisite embroidery, and densely pattern wallpapers.

The maximalist patterns of the collection are underpinned by a divine silk-look velvet plain and an artisanal handloomed drapery.

Tropically scented palm greens, deep teals, whisky tinged blush pinks, and burnished gold are set into a base of refined neutrals, constructing a rich, heady colour palette.

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For the Love of Velvet

WITH GENTLE MAINTENANCE VELVET WILL RADIATE GLAMOUR AROUND YOUR INTERIOR FOR YEARS TO COME

Velvet has a rich and storied history dating back thousands of years. Once reserved for royalty, this opulent and luxurious fabric adds softness and warmth to traditional and contemporary interiors, from drapery to upholstery and accessories.

Whilst velvet can be made from natural fibres such as silk or cotton, or complex synthetic blends, the velvets within The Royal Menagerie collection are crafted from viscose, a strong and lustrous regenerated fibre.

Beautiful Bruises

Velvet is a cut warp pile fabric, produced by weaving two cloths face-to-face on a special loom, joined by the warp pile thread. This combined fabric is then separated by a knife edge as it comes off the loom and the fibrous cut ends of the yarn form the textured surface of the velvet.

Characterised by this short dense pile, different effects can be achieved by either leaving the pile erect or laying it in one direction to create the delicate lustre. If you run your hand over the velvet the pile will move, press on it and it will leave a mark, brush in the pile’s direction and it will return to its natural state. If the pile does flatten the angle alters which results in areas of the pile appearing lighter or darker in shade.

This can easily be mistaken for uneven dyeing but is in fact an inherent characteristic of pile fabrics, however, the beauty of fabrics such as Bespoke by Catherine Martin by Mokum is in this bruised appearance. Crushed velvets achieve perfection in their imperfection and inherent luminosity.

On the Couch with Catherine

AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH CREATIVE FORCE, DEDICATED MAXIMALIST, AND LONG-TIME MOKUM COLLABORATOR CATHERINE MARTIN

Nestled into an opulent array of pink and green velvets and maximalist animal prints sits the denimon-denim clad Catherine Martin. We’ve found a midphotoshoot moment to pause with the Academy Award winning costume and set designer to find out what inspires her at work and in her home.

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...

SOFA Monarque colour Moss

CUSHIONS L-R Bengal Tiger colour Whisky, Leopardo colour Palm Leaf, Bengal Tiger colour Palm Leaf, Monarque colour Peach

CHAIRS & OTTOMAN Leopardo colour Palm Leaf

Hugh Stewart Beyond the Lens

INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND DIRECTOR

HUGH STEWART DISCUSSES THE ART OF PORTRAITURE AND HIS FRUITFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH BAZ LUHRMANN AND CATHERINE MARTIN

Hugh Stewart has photographed many of the greatest actors and characters of the past 50 years. His story is one of an ambitious, bold, and somewhat dissatisfied youth with a definitive goal: to work for British Vogue – and a naturally relaxed ability to follow his nose on the way there.

From a small farm in South Auckland, New Zealand, to London, New York, and Sydney, Hugh has collaborated with luminaries like Vogue and i-D magazines, Chanel, and Academy Award winning director Baz Luhrmann throughout his career.

In 1981 Hugh completed his printing apprenticeship and moved to London, finding himself living in a squat behind Houston Station, Saint Pancreas, with an array of creatives including photographers working for music magazines. “With one of them we built a dark room, and then I had a camera and started shooting over there, I didn’t work but I started taking pictures and I started to really love it,” says Hugh.

Following London came a year in New York and an expired visa which forced him home, but with no interest in farming Hugh quickly moved to Sydney, Australia. “I had all these photographs, so I made a portfolio. I was young enough, cocky enough, and overconfident enough to just think I should start at the top – so I did, I went to see Vogue and they actually gave me a job.”

The Elvis Aesthetic

THE ROYAL MENAGERIE WAS INSPIRED BY CATHERINE’S RESEARCH INTO THE CULTURAL ICON; IN PARTICULAR THE MAXIMALIST GLAMOUR OF ELVIS’S GRACELAND HOME AND DECORATIVE STAGE COSTUMES

Las Vegas Hotel Suite

“The dark sumptuous luxury of Elvis’s hotel suite in Vegas was a starting point for the liquid drape of Monarque velvet. In the suite, sapphire blue Bengal Tiger and gold Bespoke velvet are paired to create a sensuous and decadent environment befitting a rock and roll god.”

Catherine Martin

Jungle Room

“Elvis loved monkeys, he did at one point have a chimp called Scatter and you’ll see in the decor of Graceland little porcelain monkeys … we were actually able to purchase the same monkeys made by the same people in Italy who made Elvis’s.”

Catherine Martin

“Elvis’s animal statues inspired our Monkey Business wallpaper and Catherine brought them with her from the film set to feature in our collection photoshoot. Everything about the costume and set design is very considered and very authentic.”

Stephanie Moffitt

Music Room

“The peacock was a talisman for Elvis, symbolising good fortune as he had had great success with the ‘68 Special at NBC.

Along with the windows, Elvis had an elaborately embroidered peacock jumpsuit made for his residency at the Hilton in Vegas.

These iconic stained-glass windows inspired the Royal Peacock design.”

Catherine Martin

Bengal Tiger

Bengal Tiger from our Majorelle Collection has been updated to coordinate with The Royal Menagerie. Woven in Europe, our decadent tiger skin is a contemporary velvet jacquard construction. The spine motifs are recessed within the lustrous viscose pile and edged with a fine shadow line to create further dimension.

WIDTH - 144cm / 56.6”

USAGE - Upholstery Heavy Duty, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 59% PL 41% VI

Gold

Snow

Palm Leaf

Sapphire Onyx

Whisky

Jungle Room

Returning to the Jungle Room in Elvis’s Graceland hideaway, motifs from the hand painted artworks have been singled out and adapted into an exquisite embroidery design, revealing a rich, tropical infused textile. Multiple stitching techniques have been employed, overlaying the plant and flower motifs to add complexity and beauty to this textile. The Jungle Room embroidery decorates a 100% linen base, providing a natural foundation for the embellishment.

WIDTH - 127cm / 50”

USAGE - Curtains, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 52% LI, 22% VI (CV), 26% PL (PES)

Antique

Leopardo

A perennial interior design favourite, leopard is a forever textile. Originally released in the Majorelle Collection, two new colours have been added to Catherine’s take on this classic textile. Woven in a glamorous Italian jacquard, the sateen weave ground allows the iconic leopard spot to sit proudly in luminous viscose chenille. Coloured in decorative and classic colourways in both tonal and contrasting combinations, a perfect solution for schemes that require a subtle, small-scale pattern or dramatic statement piece.

Palm Leaf

Onyx Tobacco

Snow Sapphire

Monarque

Monarque is a luxury viscose velvet with a sublime soft pile and liquid drape, emulating the glamour and opulence of silk. The French spelling of Monarque reflects Catherine Martin’s European heritage and nods to velvet’s rich history and association with aristocrats across Europe, where it was especially adored by the Italian House of Medici. Building on the offering of our best-selling velvet and pillar of the Majorelle collection, Bespoke, Monarque is available in a sumptuous array of custom colours.

WIDTH - 140cm / 55.1”

USAGE - Curtains, Uph. Heavy Duty, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 82% VI (CV) 10% PL (PES) 8% CO

Atlantic

Aquamarine

Gold Macaroon Martini

+7 MORE COLOURS

Chocolate

Camel

Monkey Business Wallpaper

Mischievous monkeys climb to and fro on tropical foliage in this playful and practical wallcovering. Hand painted in gouache and digitally printed, this textile captures the brushstrokes and painterly nature of the original artwork. The motifs take reference from the ceramic monkey statues found in Elvis’s ‘Jungle Room,’ a tropical-inspired kitsch retreat within his Memphis home. Monkey Business is printed onto paper-backed vinyl wallpaper, making it suitable for bathroom applications.

WIDTH - 69cm / 27.1”

USAGE - Wall Covering

COMPOSITION - Paper Based Light Vinyl

Gilver

Coral Sepia

Ming Green

Midnight

Panthera

Our lithe leopard illustration Panthera was inspired by Elvis’s iconic stage costumes and jewellery, at once beautifully intricate and shamelessly bold in design. Woven in a decadent cut-pile velvet construction, our leopard motif is sunken into the cloth and detailed using a rhythmic binding, adding further depth and dimension to the pattern.

WIDTH - 140cm / 55.1”

USAGE - Upholstery Heavy Duty, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 78% VI (CV), 22% CO

Gold

Aquamarine

Whisky

Snow Olive

Royal Peacock

The hand painted peacock artwork is also available as a coordinating drapery, expertly finished with a sumptuous, soft handle. For ease of manufacture, it is continuously digitally printed onto a wide 100% linen base cloth.

WIDTH - 290cm / 114.2”

USAGE - Curtains, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 100% LI

Midnight Sepia

Vintage White

Royal Peacock Wallpaper

Brightly coloured, stylized peacocks adorn the handmade stained-glass doors which separate the living room from the music room in Elvis’s iconic Graceland home. Regal peacocks sit proudly amongst lush heliconia palms laden with flowers. The design has been expertly hand painted in gouache and digitally printed onto a textured non-woven substrate, replicating the aesthetic of handwoven paper with a subtle iridescent finish. This bespoke print is also available in a coordinating drapery, digitally printed onto a wide 100% linen base cloth and expertly finished creating a sumptuous, soft textile.

WIDTH - 69cm / 27.1”

USAGE - Wallpaper

COMPOSITION - Non Woven

Midnight Sepia

Vintage White

Tennessee Tussah

Named after Elvis’s home state of Tennessee, Tennessee Tussah references the raw silk and handloomed textiles of the 1970s, a period which embraced hand crafted design. Tennessee Tussah is an artisanal textile with custom piled viscose yarns, hand woven in India it will be loved by those who appreciate the beauty of its inherent imperfection.

WIDTH - 137cm / 53.9”

USAGE - Curtains, Accessory

COMPOSITION - 100% VI (CV)

Gold

Alabaster

Raffia

Rose Gold

Pearl Hopsack

The Royal Menagerie

Inspired by Catherine Martin’s work on the Elvis movie, embracing a maximalism aesthetic and nostalgia for the 1970s.

PERFORMANCE

Luxurious residential textiles and wallpapers, with a commitment to natural fibres where possible.

AESTHETIC

Maximalism, more is more! Theatrical patterns, dimensional constructions, decadent velvets, and painterly wallpapers. The colour palette is rich and heady, embracing 1970s glamour and a tropical influence. Original hand painted designs inspired by artworks within Elvis’s Memphis home.

BRAND

The Mokum brand creates thematic collections which have a relaxed luxury which is born of place, Australia and New Zealand.

Our collections feature original designs created within our Sydney based studio.

For more information on this, and many other collections

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