THE National Film and Sound Archive’s “Australians and Hollywood” exhibition has been given a lease of new life. 

The centrepiece is now a set of newly-acquired costumes from Baz Luhrmann’s biopic, “Elvis”, with the focus very much on the art of Luhrmann’s partner, the designer Catherine Martin.

The objects form part of a wider acquisition by the NFSA of costumes and props from “Elvis” for long-term preservation and, as Martin puts it: “These costumes can live on at the NFSA and contribute to Australia’s audio-visual heritage… it’s wonderful to think that work made in Australia can stay in Australia and become a reference point for future filmmakers and designers.”

There have been adjustments and re-positionings so that the display climaxes in the Elvis section at the centre of the exhibition space.

Martin’s exceptional attention to detail is evident elsewhere, with costumes from “Moulin Rouge” for instance, that include the can-can skirt that Luhrmann stipulated should look like part of a coral reef. 

Among the new acquisitions, the elegant, leather patchwork coat worn by Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley in the scene of her 1973 divorce, re-created by Martin and her team in just two days to meet the deadline for the filming, that show the craft involved, but the centrepiece is the pink “Louisiana Hayride” suit worn by Austin Butler as Elvis making his debut.

The pink, light woollen suit jacket with black accents on the shoulders, black piping on the jacket edge, cuffs and collar, and black buttons on the front of the jacket and cuff of each sleeve might have been considered effeminate in the ’50s, but not as Elvis wore it. 

Based on ’50s fashion, it’s also a clear nod to the black performers of the time such as BB King and Little Richard, shown by Luhrmann to have influenced Elvis and, designed by Martin to be loose, it allowed Butler to perform the overtly sexual moves of the newly minted “Elvis the Pelvis”. 

There is also the green frog-decorated “Nudie Suit” worn by David Wenham as Hank Snow in his portrayal of the famous country-singer before the charismatic young Presley outshone him.

On the far right is the “Blue Wheat” jumpsuit and cape that were part of Elvis’s signature look throughout his reign at the Las Vegas International Hotel, featuring the Napoleon collar that accentuated his status as the King. 

To the left of the main display is a case of huge rhinestone-adorned belts worn by Elvis in his later years, each one a work of art. 

“Australians & Hollywood,” at the NFSA. “Elvis” encore screenings on December 11 and 19, and on Elvis’ birthday, January 8.