The iconic red and black leather jacket the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson wore in his 1983 "Thriller" video was sold for 1.8 million U.S. dollars at an auction held Sunday in Beverly Hills, almost 10 times the original price an auction house asked for, Xinhua reported.
The jacket would gross between 200,000 dollars and 400,000 dollars at the event held by Julien's Auctions, experts estimated before the auction of music-related memorabilia from the biggest names in rock-n-roll, Motown, jazz, country, pop and other genres.
The jacket was sold to Milton Verret, a commodities trader from Austin, Texas. He said the jacket would be part of a traveling exhibit and be used to raise money for children's charities.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of iconic jacket will benefit The Shambala Preserve in Acton, home to Jackson's two Bengal tigers, "Thriller" and "Sabu"since 2006.
The jacket was designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis. Jackson brought this jacket to his longtime costume designers Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush to be used as reference for all of the subsequent concerts. It is a black and red calf leather jacket with "Marc Laurent Paris" label featuring silver buckle, red silk lining, trapunto stitched collar, snap front closure and signature winged shoulders, Julien's Auctions said on its website.
Among the most recognizable and famous garment of the 20th century, Jackson's "Thriller" jacket sparked a 1980s fashion craze like none other.
The pop icon died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009 from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic Propofol when he was preparing for his London comeback concerts.