Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin design new carriage for British Pullman

DECORATING | ROOMS & GARDENS | WORLD OF CABANA

Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin unveil their latest design project – Celia, a glamorous private carriage aboard the British Pullman, conceived as a cinematic world on rails. Inspired by 1930s theatre and realised by master British artisans, the new events carriage invites 12 guests to dine, dream and drift through the English countryside.

BY CAMILLA FRANCES | ROOMS & GARDENS | 10 FEBRUARY 2026

Hollywood director, Baz Luhrmann, and Oscar-winning production and costume designer, Catherine Martin, at work on their new design for Celia © Belmond.

Onboard the British Pullman, a Belmond train, heritage and drama have always travelled hand in hand. Now, a new carriage is preparing to make its entrance, dressed by cinematic royalty: writer and director, Baz Luhrmann, and production and costume designer, Catherine Martin, who describe it as a, "once-in-a-lifetime" project.

Celia, a private dining and events carriage designed by the Oscar-winning duo, marks a rare and significant moment in British hospitality: a meeting of theatrical imagination and railway history, realised through exceptional craftsmanship. Set within an original 1932 Pullman carriage and departing from London's Victoria station across all British Pullman journeys, Celia is a self-contained space accommodating up to 12 guests.

Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin's design for Celia was inspired by 1930s glamour and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream © Yukiko Noritake.

With its own cocktail bar, lounge, dining area, kitchen and dedicated stewards, it offers an unusually intimate way to experience one of Britain’s most storied trains. 

For Luhrmann and Martin, whose work has defined the visual language of contemporary cinema for more than three decades, the decision to design a train carriage is both unexpected and inspired. Known for their immersive, emotionally charged universes on screen—from Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge to The Great Gatsby and Elvis—the pair turned their attention to a moving interior.

The carriage itself takes narrative cues from a fictional muse imagined by Luhrmann: Celia, a glamorous leading lady of London's West End in the 1930s, gifted her own Pullman car in honour of an era-defining performance as Titania in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That theatrical lineage runs deep.

Images left to right: Illustration of Celia © Yukiko Noritake; An original carriage on the British Pullman © Belmond; Baz Luhrmann © Hugh Stewart; British Pullman © Belmond.

Inspired by London’s interwar theater scene, vintage cinema and Shakespearean romance, the design weaves together fantasy and history, inviting guests to step into a dreamlike, cinematic atmosphere as the English countryside rolls past. What makes Celia especially notable, Martin says, is the calibre and depth of craftsmanship.

The Australian designer, whose oeuvre now includes fabrics, homewares and interior design, has collaborated with a roster of British artisans to bring the train to life: marquetry specialists, Dunn & Son, bespoke furniture maker, Bill Cleyndert, Tony Sandles’ glass studio, J.K. Interiors, and embroiderers, Hand & Lock, to name but a few. 

Each maker contributes to Martin and Luhrmann's characteristically theatrical and richly layered interior. An elaborate fabric ceiling crowns the space above oak marquetry floors and custom parquetry, while thick velvet upholstery, floral motifs and a palette of deep greens, reds and purples evoke both the British landscape and after-hours glamour.

Four-time Oscar-winning production and costume designer, Catherine Martin, pictured in her studio with inspirations for the design of 'Celia' © Hugh Stewart. 

Operating as a private venue on rails, Celia is, as Luhrmann describes it, “a magical mystery tour”, created by two of cinema's most notable visual storytellers. "For Catherine and I, creating Celia was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, allowing us to push the boundaries of creativity, luxury, and uniqueness," Luhrmann says.

The new carriage gives travellers the "rare opportunity to inhabit the nostalgia of another era," Martin agrees. "Onboard I imagine people eating, dancing and falling in love," she says, "taking photographs, celebrating life’s great moments and adventures — all within a world that offers a pause from the chaos of everyday life."

One of the original carriages on board The British Pullman, now to be joined by Celia, designed by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin © Belmond.