CULTURE DIET

Costume Designer Catherine Martin Gets Her Genius from Marie Kondo and Christina Aguilera

The master costumer behind The Great Gatsby and “The Get Down” shares her culture diet.


CM Headshot.jpg

Whether or not you recognize Catherine Martin‘s name, you’re definitely familiar with her work: She’s the brains behind everything from Jaden Smith’s wacky get-ups in Netflix’s “The Get Down” to the lavish period pieces of Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatbsy — and that just covers her work with her husband, Baz Luhrmann. Now, those costumes are getting a second life alongside work by artists like Vanessa Beecroft at this Wednesday’s House of Peroni installation, orchestrated by director Francesco Carrozzini in the former Patricia Field boutique. Get a taste of where Martin gets her references with her culture diet, here.

First thing you read in the morning: My emails.

Books on your bedside table right now: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo and At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.

The TV show keeping you up at night:The Get Down“!

Last movie you saw in theaters: Not really a movie, but my husband’s one-and-half hour first episode of “The Get Down”!

Last thing you saw at the theater: “Hamilton.”

Last piece of art you bought, or ogled: Two beautiful abstract expressionist paintings by my friend Anthony White.

Last museum exhibition that you loved: The amazing, almost untouched, 19th-century exhibition hall in the Jardin des Plantes of paleontology and compared anatomies.

Favorite art space you’ve recently visited: The Picasso Museum in Paris.

Vintage shop of choice in NYC: What Goes Around Comes Around.

Favorite new store: The Laundress. It’s just around the corner from my old house in Soho and I walk by and ogle at the windows all the time, though unfortunately have not actually made it in yet!

Best recent purchase: Shoes for two young friends! A pair of Rafael “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” Doc Martens and a pair of unicorn Vans.

Release you’re most eagerly anticipating: Life and Death of the New York Dance Floor, 1980 – 1983 by Tim Lawrence. So excited to learn more about a period we have been studying so in-depth for “The Get Down.”

Last song you had on repeat:Telepathy” by Christina Aguilera and “Cadillac” by Miguel.

Last concert you saw live: Katy Perry, with my daughter in Washington, D.C.

How you get your news: My iPhone and the New York Times app.

Favorite Instagram and Twitter accounts: My husband’s.

Last thing you do before you go to bed: Switch off the bed side lamp!