ELVIS: DIRECT FROM GRACELAND

For fans who cannot make the journey to Elvis’ home in Memphis, Graceland is coming to you in London!

Direct from Graceland: Elvis is a major new retrospective exhibit that will open October 2023 at Arches London Bridge. The exhibit will feature over 400 artifacts that have never been seen in the UK. Graceland Archives has assembled a powerful narrative that will explore Elvis’ meteoric career, larger-than-life persona, influential sense of style, life at Graceland, plus lesser-known aspects of his early years, hobbies and personal life. 

In over 11,000 sq ft, Arches London Bridge provides cavernous gallery space to showcase Direct From Graceland: Elvis. The exhibition will feature artifacts owned by Elvis Presley, direct from the icon’s Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee - including his military uniforms, his American Football uniform, his TCB Super Trike Motorcycle and Ferrari Dino GT4, and a fantastic array of his famous jumpsuits – plus personal items like Lisa Marie’s baby clothes, Elvis’ first job application and the crayon box he took to school.

This exclusive exhibition explores the extraordinary life and style of the best-selling solo recording star of all time, who single-handedly changed the face of popular culture around the globe like no one before him or since. One of the most iconic public figures of the 20th century, the story begins with his humble childhood on the poverty line in a small town in Mississippi, where Elvis grew up immersed in the rich and diverse music cultures of the deep South. Only two years after cutting his first single at Sun Studio in Memphis, Elvis signed a major record deal and nearly overnight shot to super-stardom, the likes of which had never been seen before. In those early years, he purchased Graceland and created the private haven he would never sell, despite his ever-increasing fame over the following two decades.

In a time before celebrities had teams of personal stylists, Elvis carefully crafted his own look, borrowing from eclectic sources to perfect a ground-breaking new style. Decked out in threads from the ultra-hip Lansky Brothers store on Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, with slick coiffed hair and black mascara, Elvis' appearance was as sensational as his music. His audacious style evolved over the decades: from his youth's soft trousers and argyle socks to the leather rocker of 1968 to the dazzling bling of the 1970s.

Among the items from Graceland that will be displayed is Elvis' red MG automobile as featured in his classic film "Blue Hawaii," a gold-plated rotary dial telephone from Elvis' upstairs bedroom, the keys to Graceland and his gold microphone used on stage in Las Vegas, 1969. Some of the most recognizable items traveling from Memphis to London are the Gold Lamé Suit worn by Elvis in the 1950s, plus one of the two jumpsuits he used for his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" television special and the cape he famously tossed into the audience at the end of the show.

The exhibition also moves beyond the familiar story of his musical and acting career to present his more private side - his devotion to his parents, his love of books, motorcycles, horses, karate, and his iconic Graceland Mansion. It includes garments and jewelry worn by Elvis throughout his life, personal items from Graceland, vintage Elvis-branded merchandise, costumes, scripts from Hollywood movies and much more.