Janet Jackson’s ‘Scream’ outfit sells for £89,000 at auction

The outfit Janet Jackson wore in the video for ‘Scream’, her 1995 collaboration with brother Michael Jackson, has sold at auction for $125,000 (£89,000).

The three day auction, which started on Friday (May 14) and ends today (May 16), has been put on by Julien’s to honour the legendary pop star and mark her 55th birthday (May 16).

Among the 1,000 items that have gone up for auction is Jackson’s wedding dress for her secret marriage to dancer René Elizondo Jr. in 1991. Other items include her ‘Rhythm Nation’ military jacket, which sold for $81,250 (£57,700), and her famous, single silver-tone hoop earring with a hanging key was bought for $43,750 (£31,100).

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Jackson’s floor-length metallic silver coat with lambskin shearling lining, cuffs and collar, designed by Helen Storey, was bought for $50,000 (£35,500). Her silver string bikini and a pair of matching pants worn underneath the coat by Jackson sold for $25,600 (£18,200).

One of the auction’s biggest draws was her futuristic outfit from the ‘Scream’ video, which at the time was the world’s most expensive music video costing $7million (£5million) to make. Jackson’s black circular bubble textured fabric long-sleeve shirt, black patent leather pants and black patent leather over-the-ankle boots sold for $125,000 (£89,000) on Saturday (May 15).

A rare exhibition of the ‘Control’ singer’s costumes and memorabilia went on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in London last month for five days, before the collection was transferred to New York and then Los Angeles ahead of the auction.

“Janet has never done anything like this before,” said Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions. “We’ve approached her so many times, and it has always been very hard to find anything at auction from her because she kept and archived everything.”

Speaking to The Observer, Nolan said that “putting together the auction was an incredibly cathartic project” for Jackson.

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A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit Compassion International, a global child-advocacy ministry that partners with churches around the world to release children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty.

You can find out more about the auction on Julien’s Auctions official website here.






Meanwhile, a new two-part documentary exploring the life of Janet Jackson is set to be released next year.

The film, titled JANET, is set to arrive to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the singer’s self-titled debut album from 1982.