Two jackets were made for Thriller. One is locked away with the Jackson estate. The other is coming to Abu Dhabi, and it's for sale.
This December, Julien's Auctions puts it back on the block as the headliner of Michael Jackson: The Fashion Legacy Evening Auction, part of its Celebrity & Pop Culture Experience running 7–9 December at Rosewood Abu Dhabi. More than 100 pieces from the King of Pop's wardrobe will be up for grabs. Four of them, all from 1983, are the ones collectors will be losing sleep over.
The jacket that wouldn't stay buried
The black and candy red calf leather jacket was designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, costume designer and wife of Thriller director John Landis. Only two were made for the shoot. One, scuffed from the zombie choreography, stayed with the Jackson estate. The other is the one coming to Abu Dhabi.
This one comes with a story worth the price of admission on its own. Jackson autographed it on the sleeve and gave it to his longtime costume designers, Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush. In June 2011 they sold it through Julien's in Beverly Hills, where a Texas commodities trader named Milton Verret beat about a dozen international bidders and paid $1.8 million. That made it the most expensive jacket ever sold at auction, according to Guinness World Records.
Verret had big plans for it. He pledged to tour the jacket to raise money for children's hospitals, and part of the 2011 proceeds went to the Shambala Preserve, the big-cat sanctuary that took in Jackson's two Bengal tigers. One of those tigers, fittingly, was named Thriller.
Now, fifteen years on, the jacket is back in play. "The Thriller jacket is the one the world has never stopped talking about," Julien's co-founder Martin Nolan said in a statement, quoted by People.
The supporting cast
A jacket this famous needs a worthy opening act, and Julien's has lined up a sparkling one. The rhinestone glove Jackson wore to perform "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is also on offer. That was the night in May 1983 when he unveiled the moonwalk on live television, and a generation of kids promptly wore out their socks on kitchen floors.
The glove set its own record when it sold through Julien's in 2009 for $430,000. This time the house expects $600,000 to $800,000. Rounding out the big four are two pairs of black loafers. One is the Motown 25 pair, the very shoes that first glided backwards across a TV stage. The other is the Florsheims Jackson wore in the Thriller video, which arrive with a signed letter to the video's choreographer, Michael Peters.
So, here's what to keep in mind:
What: Michael Jackson: The Fashion Legacy Evening Auction, 100+ pieces
When: 7–9 December 2026
Where: Rosewood Abu Dhabi, Al Maryah Island
Headliners: the "Thriller" jacket, the Motown 25 glove and two pairs of 1983 loafers
So if you've ever stood in front of a mirror attempting the zombie shuffle, mark the calendar.