It wasn’t just any cardigan that sold for 137,500 dollars. It was a
dishevelled five-button acrylic, mohair and lycra mix, without a hint of
wool, cashmere or luxe fibres, but worn as it was by former Nirvana
frontman Kurt Cobain it far exceeded its expectation of fetching 15,000
dollars when it went up for auction this week.
The relevance of this ‘item’ to the fashion industry is that both this
cardigan and indeed Cobain’s style epitomised the much-referenced grunge
era in the 90s. Without Cobain there would have been no Marc Jacobs’
seminal grunge collection for Perry Ellis in 1992 nor indeed Hedi Slimane’s
direction at Saint Laurent.
Diffident and ungroomed, Cobain and his contemporaries dressed in workwear
and thrift-store clothing, but his unique sense of style was of crucial
importance. He was acutely aware of clothing’s power to make statements. As
a teenage punk in a small town in Washington State, he had been a fan of
the Sex Pistols, who had been dressed by Dame Vivienne Westwood and managed
by semiotician Malcolm McLaren.
Cobain’s flannel shirts, torn jeans and sloppy cardigans may have looked
shabby to the establishment, but to the alienated, marginalised and fashion
industry its message was clear and uplifting. Today his style can still be
seen on runways, referenced in countless editorials and on the streets.
image:Kurt Cobain