The jacket is the centerpiece of the Michael Jackson: The Fashion Legacy Auction, part of the inaugural Celebrity & Pop Culture Experience event at the Rosewood Abu Dhabi hotel. The evening auction takes place on Monday, December 7, while the entire event runs through December 9. MJVibe ↗
Key actors — tap for context
Michael Jackson
American singer, the "King of Pop," died in June 2009
Why here: The jacket from his Thriller video is going to auction
More info →Julien's Auctions
American auction house based in Beverly Hills, specializing in memorabilia of music stars
Why here: Organizing the auction in Abu Dhabi and previously sold the jacket in 2011
Deborah Nadoolman Landis
American costume designer
Why here: Designed the jacket from the Thriller video
More info →Jaafar Jackson
American actor and singer, nephew of Michael Jackson
Why here: Played the lead role in the film Michael, which according to APA grossed over a billion dollars at the box office
More info →What is being sold
Among the other featured items are three pieces. Black Florsheim leather moccasins from the Thriller video, accompanied by a letter from Jackson to choreographer Michael Peters dated December 18, 1983, carry an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. Moccasins from rehearsals for the Motown 25 television special, which aired on May 16, 1983, are valued at $60,000 to $80,000. MJVibe ↗Among three other featured items, the one with the highest publicly disclosed estimate is the sparkling glove from Motown 25, from the performance during which Jackson danced his famous moonwalk. The estimate is $600,000 to $800,000. In November 2009, it was bought for what was then a record $430,000 by Hoffman Ma, a businessman from Hong Kong. MJVibe ↗ Der Standard ↗
Two jackets, one for sale
The jacket was designed by costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, wife of director John Landis. Two were made, and the one going to auction is the one Jackson wore in the scenes without zombie makeup. The second one, worn in the zombie scenes, remained in his estate's collection and was exhibited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Parade (Yahoo) ↗ MJVibe ↗Jackson gave the auctioned piece to costume designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins after they made patterns from it without damaging it. Inside is a dedication reading "To Bush and Dennis All My Love Michael Jackson." MJVibe ↗
This jacket has already been auctioned once. Julien's sold it in June 2011 for $1.8 million, with the buyer being Milton Verret. Atlanta Black Star ↗
Estimate of the jacket's price
Der Standard, citing APA, writes that Julien's stated an estimate of "mehr als zehn Millionen US-Dollar," meaning more than ten million dollars. Der Standard ↗ Germany's n-tv asks in its headline whether it will be more than ten million, and in the text refers to statements from the auction house's spokespeople. n-tv ↗Julien's official announcement from October 7 lists only "Estimate Available Upon Request" for the jacket, meaning the estimate is provided upon request. Julien's Auctions ↗ Neither MJVibe nor Parade state a specific sum for the jacket. We therefore found no publicly published figure; ten million is an estimate that media outlets attribute to the auction house, not an announced price.
Exhibitions before the auction
The items will go on exhibition tours before the sale. After being presented in Los Angeles on October 7, they will be shown in Osaka (October 9–12), then in November in New York and Bahrain, and from November 29 to December 5 in Abu Dhabi. MJVibe ↗The biographical film Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, which opened in theaters in April, grossed over a billion dollars worldwide at the box office according to APA, with the lead role played by Jaafar Jackson, the singer's nephew. Der Standard ↗
The 1983 Thriller music video, in which Jackson wore the jacket, is available on his official channel.
What hotinfo is watching
- Julien's zverejnil odhad ceny Thriller bundy a je známe, či sedí s číslom z APA (nad 10 miliónov dolárov).
- Thriller bunda sa 7. decembra 2026 vydražila za viac než 1,8 milióna dolárov z roku 2011.
- Rukavica z Motown 25 sa vydražila nad horným odhadom 800 000 dolárov.
Illustrative photo: Michael Jackson in the jacket from the Thriller video, promotional photograph by Epic Records from 1983/84, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).
