Kurt Cobain's Never Washed Unplugged Sweater Is Up for Auction Again After Previously Selling for Almost $150K
Kurt Cobain’s iconic green cardigan sweater that he wore during Nirvana’s performance on MTV Unplugged in 1993 will soon be up for auction — and yes, it has never been washed.
The piece will be available for bidding during Julien’s Auctions‘ upcoming “Icons & Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll” event taking place both online and live at the Hard Rock Café in New York City on Oct. 25 and 26. Currently, the listing on Julien’s Auctions has a starting bid at $50,000 and is estimated to sell for upwards of $200,000 after selling for $137,500 in November 2015.
“Rock & roll memorabilia has become an investment,” Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions told Rolling Stone. “It’s not just a collector’s market — it’s an investor’s market. The person that bought the sweater in 2015 bought it as an investment. Now, because we’ve been getting record prices for Kurt Cobain, people are starting to sell it. We anticipate that it will sell for more than double. I call it the new fine art market. People are investing more and more in pop culture, especially rock & roll. It’s a way to diversify their portfolios.”
The listing describes the size medium Manhattan brand sweater as “a blend of acrylic, mohair and Lycra with five-button closure (one button absent) with two exterior pockets, a burn hole and discoloration near left pocket and discoloration on right pocket.”
“It’s very important that we don’t wash it,” Julien said. “The stains are still there. There’s even cigarette burns that you can see on the sweater.”
Like the 2015 auction, the sweater will come with a handwritten letter and a typed, signed letter from Jackie Farry, the former nanny of Cobain’s daughter, Frances Bean, now 27, whom he shared with wife Courtney Love. Love, 55, gifted Farry with the sweater following Cobain’s death at the age of 27 in April 1994.
According to Rolling Stone, the current owner (a businessman who prefers to remain anonymous) kept the sweater stored in acid-free tissue in a safe while it was in his possession. The auction house is now keeping it in similar tissue and a plastic case.
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Along with Cobain’s sweater, Julien’s Auctions will put the rocker’s custom-built left-handed Fender Mustang guitar used during Nirvana’s “In Utero” tour up for auction during the “Icons & Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll” event. The guitar is currently listed at a starting bid of $75,000 but is estimated to sell for upwards of $300,000.
Additionally, the event will feature over 700 historical artifacts and memorabilia owned and used by other artists like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Janis Joplin.
