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TheThriller jacket is the red jacket worn byMichael Jackson inthe music video for his 1983 hit "Thriller". Designed byDeborah Nadoolman Landis, thecandy-apple-red jacket featured black stripes and raised shoulders forming an inverted triangle. The jacket became the "hottest outerwear fad of the mid-1980s" and was widely emulated.[1] Because counterfeit copies of the jacket could sell at over $500, in 1984 Jackson filed a lawsuit inNew York City to prevent unauthorized copies of the jacket and his other merchandise.[2]
On 27 June 2011, the jacket sold for $1.8 million atJulien's Auctions,[3] making it one of the mostvaluable clothing sold at auction by a celebrity. The buyer, Milton Verret, described the jacket as "the greatest piece of rock and roll memorabilia in history".[4][5] The proceeds from the jacket were donated to theShambala Animal Kingdom, where Jackson'sBengal tigers were housed when he leftNeverland Ranch in 2006.[6]
The jacket was designed byDeborah Nadoolman Landis. She had also designedIndiana Jones' jacket inRaiders of the Lost Ark, among other things.[7][8][9] The red jacket was noted for its V-shaped black stripes, the unusual style of the front buttons, and the angular, rigid shoulders protruding out over the tops of the arms.[10][11] Landis stated that she specifically designed the jacket to help Jackson appear more "virile".[12][13]
Fashion designerZaldy was responsible for a redesigned version of the jacket for the cancelledThis Is It concerts. It had an imitation of blood on its shoulders, and on the inside a stamp resembling the feline beast Jackson turns into in the video.[14]
The jacket became the "hottest outerwear fad of the mid-1980s" and was widely emulated. It is sometimes emulated by celebrities today such asChris Brown andKanye West.[1][15] It also became one of the most sought after by many people and the epitome of the 1980s teen cool.[16][17] The jacket he wore in theThriller video, along with a copy of the black and white leather jacket he wore in one of thePepsi commercials and in the dance rehearsal portions behinds the scenes ofThe Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, are among his best-selling jackets.[18] Expensive counterfeits were mass-produced and often sold for over $500 to people thinking they were getting the real thing.[19] Because of this mass counterfeiting and the profits it earned, in 1984 Jackson filed a lawsuit inNew York City to prevent unauthorized copies of the jacket and his other merchandise.[2]
In the 2019 documentaryLeaving Neverland, choreographerWade Robson, who claims Jackson sexually abused him, burns Jackson memorabilia including aThriller jacket. DirectorDan Reed said that the jacket was genuine,[20][21] but Robson claimed that it was custom-made for his childhood performances.[22] According to auction houseJulien's Auctions, in 2011 Robson sold a jacket from "Thriller" for $49,920.[23][24] The actual jacket was owned by the Verret family inAustin, Texas, and was added temporarily to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inCleveland,Ohio, in May, 2022, under "high security" surveillance.[25]
At the time, she says, the 25-year-old Jackson weighed only 99 lbs, with a 26-inch waist ("exactly the same height and weight as Fred Astaire"), and one of the challenges she faced was making the performer appear more "virile."
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