Thriller jacket

The Thriller jacket is the red jacket worn by Michael Jackson in the 1983 "Thriller" music video. Designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the candy-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 in New York City to prevent unauthorized copies of the jacket and his other merchandise.[2]

The Thriller jacket at the Grammy Museum

On 27 June 2011, the jacket sold for $1.8 million at Julien's Auctions.[3] 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 the Shambala Animal Kingdom, where Jackson's Bengal tigers were housed when he left Neverland Ranch in 2006.[6]

Design
Michael Jackson wearing the Thriller jacket

The jacket was designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis. She had also designed Indiana Jones' jacket in Raiders 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 designer Zaldy was responsible for a redesigned version of the jacket for the cancelled This 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]

Reception

The jacket became the "hottest outerwear fad of the mid-1980s" and was widely emulated. It is sometimes emulated by celebrities today such as Chris Brown and Kanye 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 the Thriller video, along with a copy of the black and white leather jacket he wore in one of the Pepsi commercials and in the dance rehearsal portions behinds the scenes of The 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 in New York City to prevent unauthorized copies of the jacket and his other merchandise.[2]

Leaving Neverland

In the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, choreographer Wade Robson, who claims Jackson sexually abused him, burns Jackson memorabilia including a Thriller jacket. Director Dan 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 house Julien's Auctions, in 2011 Robson sold a jacket from "Thriller" for $49,920.[23][24] The actual jacket was owned by the Verret family in Austin, Texas, and was added temporarily to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in May, 2022, under "high security" surveillance.[25]

References
  1. Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: a pop culture encyclopedia of the late 20th century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 487. ISBN 978-0-7407-5118-9.
  2. Campbell, Lisa D. (March 1993). Michael Jackson: the king of pop. Branden Books. p. 101. ISBN 9780828319577. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  3. Perpetua, Matthew (27 June 2011). "'Thriller' Jacket Brings in $1.8 Million". Rolling Stone.
  4. "Michael Jackson's Thriller jacket sells for $1.8m at auction". BBC News. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  5. "Michael Jackson's "Thriller" jacket up for auction". Reuters. 6 June 2011 – via www.reuters.com.
  6. "Michael Jackson's Thriller Jacket Sells For £1.1Million | MTV UK". www.mtv.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  7. Goode, Lauren (30 June 2009). "Deborah Landis, Designer of the Red Jacket Michael Jackson Wore in "Thriller"". Wall Street Journal.
  8. Communications, Emmis (April 1985). "Texas Monthly". Domain: The Lifestyle Magazine of Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications: 176. ISSN 0148-7736. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  9. Landis, John (31 August 2017). "John Landis on the making of Michael Jackson's Thriller: 'I was adamant he couldn't look too hideous'". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  10. Williams, Russell (June 2003). Reborn Again. Xulon Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-59160-675-8. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  11. Gautier, Yves (2010). Michael Jackson, Backdoor to Neverland: Exposing the King of Pop's Secret Mindsets. Yves GAUTIER. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4528-1576-3.
  12. Lauren Goode (30 June 2009). "Deborah Landis, Designer of the Red Jacket Michael Jackson Wore in "Thriller"". The Wall Street Journal. Speakeasy. Retrieved 4 July 2009. 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."
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. The Gloved One (Documentary). Michael Jackson's This Is It DVD: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2010. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  15. International textiles. International textiles. 2001. p. 185.
  16. Men's Health. Rodale, Inc. March 2006. p. 9. ISSN 1054-4836. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  17. English journal. National Council of Teachers of English. 1994. p. 59.
  18. Campbell, Lisa D. (March 1993). Michael Jackson: the king of pop. Branden Books. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8283-1957-7. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  19. Hadden, Briton; Luce, Henry Robinson (1984). Time. Time Inc. p. 152.
  20. Daly, Rhian (5 March 2019). "Wade Robson clarifies whether he burned Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' jacket". NME.
  21. "Wade Robson Speaks Out on Burning His Michael Jackson 'Thriller'-Style Jacket in Leaving Neverland". PEOPLE.com.
  22. "Leaving Neverland: What Was Wade Robson Burning in the End-Credits Sequence?". Vanity Fair. 5 March 2019.
  23. Martinelli, Marissa (5 March 2019). "Wait, Did They Just Burn Michael Jackson's "Thriller" Jacket?". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  24. "Michael Jackson Accuser Tried to Sell Memorabilia Anonymously". The Blast. 25 February 2019.
  25. Bowenbank, Starr (26 May 2022). "Michael Jackson's Red 'Thriller' Jacket Enters Rock Hall Under High Security". Billboard. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
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