A cardigan worn by Kurt Cobain on Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance has sold in auction for $137,500 (£93,000). Pennies, really, when you think about his musical legacy, album sales of the live performance (it’s Nirvana’s most successful posthumous release) and the man’s contribution to modern style.
It’s thanks to Cobain that grunge has segued expansively into fashion. Without Cobain as #stylespo, we wouldn’t have had Marc Jacobs’ seminal grunge collection for Perry Ellis in 1992. Nor Hedi Slimane’s mohair-heavy AW2013 collection for Saint Laurent or indeed 40% of One Direction’s stage wardrobe.
The cardigan, a moth-eaten, oversized acrylic, mohair and Lycra mix, was donated by a friend of the Nirvana frontman and exceeded its expected bid by about $15k (£10k). Other items of note in the auction include a lock of Cobain’s hair, Michael Jackson’s pyjamas and Elvis’s valium bottle. People went similarly nuts for a candy-striped nightshirt, worn on stage by Cobain during a 1988 concert, at Speedy O’Tubbs Rhythmic Underground in Washington in 1988, which sold for $3,000 (£1,985) on eBay.
