The iconic cardigan worn by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged performance is headed to auction, and it still hasn’t been washed.
“It’s very important that we don’t wash it,” Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions told Rolling Stone. “The stains are still there. There’s even cigarette burns that you can see on the sweater.”
The sweater last sold in November 2015 for $137,500 to an anonymous buyer. It is now being sold for a minimum bid of $200,000; however, it’s estimated that the bid could reach as high as $300,000 before it’s sold. For reference, in 2015, the minimum bid was $60,000.
“Rock & roll memorabilia has become an investment,” Julien said. “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 auction will be held on October 25th and 26th at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City and online.