Earlier this month it was revealed that the iconic, shaggy, olive green cardigan donned by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance is going under the hammer.
The man who is selling the sweater, professional race car team owner Garret Kletjian, has delved into his decision to sell the priceless memorabilia. Kletjian purchased the sweater at Julien’s Auctions in 2015 for a whopping $137,500.
After he sweater arrived in Kletjian’s possession, “I opened it up and it immediately hits me: ‘Oh, now I’m also going to be responsible for this.’” He explained to Rolling Stone. “It was kind of like when my children were born years ago; I was so happy to see them, but then I was like, ‘Oh no…’ ”
Kurt Cobain wore the sweater in the months leading up to his suicide. “I look at that sweater from a different perspective than maybe some people do,” Kletjian explains. “He was obviously in a bad way at the time. I look at this sweater as something that he put on every day. It was comfortable and it was familiar. So I liked the idea that, while he might have been tortured inside, this was a piece that offered him a bit of comfort.”
When asked whether he’d ever worn the sweater, he shared: “It’s kind of a weird, powerful thing when you do something like that, when we put on somebody else’s [clothes].
“It’s like when they say you should walk in somebody else’s shoes. When I put that on, I was like, ‘Ah, no. God, I don’t want to wear this.’”
As well as the sweater, a left-handed sky blue Fender Mustang custom-made for the Cobain in 1993 will also be up for auction.
Courtney Love gifted the guitar to a fan three months after Cobain passed. The gift was accompanied by a letter, claiming that the Mustang was “was one of his favourite guitars.” The guitar is set to be sold with the handwritten letter, original hardshell case and the FEDEX shipping document from Love.
