OnApril5, 1994, Kurt Cobain died of an apparent suicide. The singer and guitarist of the mega-rock band Nirvana was just 27 years old.
Cobain’s music is his greatest legacy, but he also became an unlikely fashion icon. His scruffy look helped launch the “grunge” fashion trend of the early 90s. It was both loved and reviled, and is still influential today.
Kurt Cobain’s trademark baggy sweater, jeans and Converse became a global trend.
Young people in the 90s wore flannel shirts, long-sleeve thermals, ripped jeans and Converse sneakers in part to emulate Cobain, a counterculture icon.
Cobain’s style can be explained in three reasons.
He dressed in layers, including flannels, wool sweaters and thermals because western Washington is wet and cold.
He also dressed in mismatched clothing out of necessity. Cobain was broke until the very end of his life, even living out of his car for a period of time after moving from his hometown of Aberdeen to Seattle. So his clothes were a mix of hand-me-downs, thrift store finds and clothes from Army-Navy surplus stores. He also didn’t own many clothes, so he was often photographed in the same outfits, which made them easily replicable.
A third reason was that he was self-conscious of his own thinness. He often wore baggy sweaters and two pairs of jeans to make himself look bulkier. His thinness, and his addiction to heroin, also helped launch the “heroin chic” look of the 90s, one of his more unfortunate legacies.
When grunge blew up in 1991, it was a huge sensation. Grunge was a breath of fresh air at a time when music was dominated by the heavy metal ballads of Bon Jovi, Winger and Whitesnake.
There was the 1992 Cameron Crowe movie “Singles” about a group of twenty-something friends in grunge-era Seattle. One of the movie’s stars, Matt Dillon, actually sourced his wardrobe from Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament’s closet.
Other musicians in the Seattle scene like Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam dressed that way.
You also had Courtney Love of Hole wearing tattered babydoll dresses, ripped tights and leather boots in what was dubbed the “kinderwhor*” look, the female version of grunge.
But really Kurt was the poster boy of grunge, with his movie star looks. When he was photographed for magazine covers he mostly wore his own clothes.
And MTV played Nirvana’s videos on repeat. Kurt wore a fuzzy oversized cardigan in “Come as You Are” and a striped t-shirt over a grey flannel in “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” In “Heart-Shaped Box” he had a metallic silver shirt on over a black-and-white striped shirt, and patched up jeans. He mismatched patterns, colors and textures, and people found that punk attitude appealing.
There’s a long history of musicians influencing fashion styles, from Elvis Presley to the Beatles. The punk image was largely created by fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren.
Grunge, on the other hand, was truly anti-fashion - at least until the fashion industry caught wind of it, and that’s when the backlash to grunge truly took off.
Images from Marc Jacobs’ Spring 1993 collection for Perry Ellis.
Marc Jacobs’ infamous Spring 1993 collection for Perry Ellis was inspired by grunge. Supermodels Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss walked the runway wearing thrift-store-looking clothes that cost hundreds of dollars a piece.
Bergdorf Goodman was charging $275 for Jacob’s flannel-shirt prints on rayon shirts; his wool ski caps went for $175.
Cathy Horyn, a fashion writer who wrote quite dismissively about grunge style in the early 90s, wrote in her review of the Marc Jacobs show that “rarely has slovenliness looked so self-conscious, or commanded so high a price.”
“I think at the time a lot of us who were critics and sitting there on the side of the runway on Seventh Avenue were sort of ridiculously shocked about the idea that a contemporary designer would take an idea that was actually you know in the air, possibly because grunge was such a thrift shop look,” Horyn said.
It’s hard to overstate just how badly the show was received. Jacobs was fired from Perry Ellis because of that collection. Maureen Callahan, critic at large at the New York Post and author of “Champagne Supernovas” about early 90s fashion, said it nearly ended Marc Jacobs’ career.
“He was in the wilderness for quite some time after that grunge collection. I mean he was humiliated. Diane von Furstenberg told me that he was in such a bad way she tried to get him on QVC, and QVC didn't want him,” Callahan said.
And the backlash to grunge continued. In a New York Magazine piece titled “Grunge: 1992-1993, RIP” the writer says: “When grunge couture -- as Christian Francis Roth called his spring collection -- is displayed next to Azzedine Alaïa, someone is quite plainly missing the point.”
Vogue went from printing grunge fashion shoots in the early 90s to, by the late 90s, calling the trend a “clumpy downtrodden look” and “one of the worst” of all 90s trends.
Cobain found all this bewildering. He always wanted to be a famous musician but not a fashion icon, and he would have found it absurd that flannel shirts were being printed on silk and sold for hundreds of dollars.
In fact, fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave says that “Marc Jacobs sent the entire grunge collection to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, and apparently they burnt it.”
Cobain penned "Endorsem*nt" across a pair of Converse sneakers. Photocredit: Geoff Moore
But one brand that Kurt did love is Converse. He wore cheap Chuck Taylors and at one point wrote “endorsem*nt” on the toe cap of one of his shoes, as a joke. He never actually endorsed a brand in his lifetime.
“Ironically after Kurt died they did put out an official Converse Nirvana shoe with images of him on the side which is kind of funny in a weird way. I think he might actually have been happy with that one endorsem*nt,” said Charles R. Cross, a Seattle-based music journalist and author of two books about Cobain.
“Unfortunately, he died wearing Converse One Star. So forever immortalized is an image that that got passed around the wire services of him deceased wearing those Converse One Stars,” Cross said.
A shoe brand that Kurt did not wear is Doc Martens. There are no photos of him wearing Docs, even though people associated Docs with grunge. He simply couldn’t afford them. And so it caused a stir when Doc Martens had an ad campaign in 2007 showing Kurt sitting on a cloud with Joe Strummer and Sid Vicious, all wearing Doc Martens. Courtney Love complained and the company pulled the ads, fired their advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and issued a public apology. But it goes to show that what Kurt wore mattered, and that the perception of his authenticity mattered.
A quarter-century later, kids are still wearing grunge inspired clothing. Go online and you’ll find plenty of YouTube videos giving advice on how to dress grunge.
Marc Jacobs went on to a successful career, launching his own line and reviving Louis Vuitton as its creative director. He even reissued his grunge collection last year, though that did not get great reviews.
Cobain was vocal in his dismissal of corporate culture. By wearing cheap and torn clothing it’s a statement against capitalism. But capitalism thrives by co-opting anti-capitalist movements. So grunge allows fashion designers to critique the system, but still make money.
Some of its critics have even come around to appreciating grunge, like Cathy Horyn, who wrote a piece for The Cut expressing admiration for “the charm and sweetness of the attitude” while also placing Marc Jacobs within a context of designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela and Helmut Lang who were reacting to the luxury world.
“If you look at it in a big context, what Marcwas doing was really right in the center of all that. He was doing it in an American vein, taking something that was a home grown, you know, music movement and dress movement and kind of bringing it to the forefront of the conversation in New York. But for some reason it just ticked people off,” Horyn said.
A quarter century later, Seattle doesn’t feel so grunge-y, with Amazon and other high-tech companies flooding the city with money. But Cross says the “grunge casual” style has not gone away.
“I can guarantee you right now that in one of those Amazon skyscrapers that dot downtown Seattle, if you walk through you would see an incredible number of people wearing flannel or casual shirts and t shirts and ripped jeans. That remains sort of the uniform of Seattle,” Cross said.
And part of the lasting appeal of grunge fashion is that Nirvana’s music is still popular. If you put on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” it feels no less fresh and relevant than it did in 1991.
FAQs
Cobain's music is his greatest legacy, but he also became an unlikely fashion icon. His scruffy look helped launch the “grunge” fashion trend of the early 90s. It was both loved and reviled, and is still influential today. Kurt Cobain's trademark baggy sweater, jeans and Converse became a global trend.
Why was Kurt Cobain an icon? ›
As the frontman of the ultra-famous rock band Nirvana, Cobain transformed America's youth with his unique approach to music and distaste for stringent social rules. His rise to stardom was rapid and unexpected, but he quickly became the face of Generation X.
What style of clothes did Kurt Cobain wear? ›
Legend has it Cobain, conscious of his weight, would wear baggy sweaters and two pairs of jeans to bulk out his frame, and he wasn't opposed to wearing women's clothing, which set the template for the decade.
Why did Kurt Cobain wear so many layers? ›
4) Cobain suffered from severe body issues. He had a slim frame and struggled to put on weight, so he started wearing layers to add bulk – developing his trademark uniform of ripped jeans, t-shirts and baggy cardigans.
Who is the most influential fashion icon? ›
The 12 Greatest Fashion Icons of All Time
- Princess Diana. One of the best-dressed women in history is Diana, Princess of Wales. ...
- Rihanna. Rihanna remains an influential fashion icon that even international brands recognise. ...
- Audrey Hepburn. ...
- Harry Styles. ...
- Billy Porter. ...
- Jackie Kennedy. ...
- David Bowie. ...
- Cher.
Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, Coco Chanel was the creator of one of the most valuable fashion brands in the world. Her elegantly casual designs inspired women to abandon complicated and uncomfortable clothes. She freed ladies from the oppression of corsets, helped popularize pants for women and more.
What was Kurt Cobain's impact on society? ›
As Cobain became famous, he began speaking out for feminism and gay rights and never stopped. He was decades ahead of his time in standing up for women and gays in the male-dominated world of rock.
Why did Kurt Cobain wear a dress on stage? ›
On tour in April 1990, Kurt rocked a floral number for a show at Hampshire College in Amherst. “I like to wear dresses because they're comfortable,” he would later tell Melody Maker. “There's nothing more comfortable than a cosy flower pattern. It just feels comfortable, sexy and free wearing a dress.
How did Kurt Cobain influence others? ›
Cobain has also been the inspiration in countless songs, from Patti Smith's “About A Boy” to R.E.M.'s “Let Me In” and the lesser-known For Squirrels” “The Mighty KC,”, among others. Cobain's talents as a songwriter influenced those far beyond the short, forever impactful grunge movement.
What is Nirvana clothing mean? ›
Some believe the logo was a riff on the Seattle strip club, The Lusty Lady, which had a similar resemblance to Nirvana's “smiley face.” Others say it came from Sub Pop's first art director Lisa Orth (who later became a tattoo artist), who paid designer Grant Alden $15 to help create promotional materials for the band.
Grunge fashion/style was influenced by disheveled and androgynous thrift-store clothing, defined by a looseness that de-emphasizes the body's silhouette. Men wear second-hand or shabby T-shirts with slogans, band logos, etc. A plaid shirt might accompany the T-shirt, along with ripped or faded jeans.
What brand of jeans did Kurt Cobain wear? ›
Levi 501 Jeans. Patched and distressed. I have made these jeans to look as near as possible to the ones Kurt wore at the mtv awards in 1993 and on also stage around that time.
Why did Kurt Cobain wear a cardigan? ›
You wanted to be wrapped in something that was warm and cuddly. This was really kind of the security blanket of a sweater.” Cobain wore the sweater for months preceding his 1994 suicide, on the now-legendary Unplugged performance in November 1993 and several times on tour before his death in April.
Why did Kurt Cobain wear a hospital gown? ›
Cobain famously wore the hospital gown as a way to poke fun at rumors about his health. To complete the bit, Cobain not only had music journalist Everett True push him on stage in a wheelchair, but he opened the performance by warbling a few notes of Bette Midler's “The Rose” before pretending to collapse.
Who is the king of fashion icon? ›
Michael Jackson: The King Of Pop and fashion icon.
Who is the No 1 fashion designer in the world? ›
1. Coco Chanel. Born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, “Coco” was an exquisite French fashion designer and founder of the well-known CHANEL brand. Her modernist thinking, practical design, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important and influential figure in 20th-century fashion.
Who is the fashion icon of 2022? ›
Lenny Kravitz will receive the 2022 Fashion Icon award and the United Nations will be presented with the Environmental Sustainability Award.
Who was the fashion icon that died? ›
British fashion designer and style icon Vivienne Westwood has died aged 81. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, at her home in London on Thursday, according to an official statement from her eponymous company.
Who is the most famous fashion design? ›
TOP 10 Fashion Designers in the World
- Coco Chanel – (CHANEL) ...
- Ralph Lauren – (Ralph Lauren Corporation) ...
- Tom Ford – (TOM FORD) ...
- Yves Saint Laurent – (YSL) ...
- Christian Louboutin – (Christian Louboutin) ...
- Marc Jacobs – (MARC JACOBS) ...
- Calvin Klein – (Calvin Klein Inc.) ...
- Donatella Versace – (VERSACE)
Paul Newman
Whether in an immaculately tailored suit or a simple white Oxford shirt and chinos, he always looked the part.
Nirvana was able to open up the door to conversations of social issues as a result of their activism. After Kurt Cobain's death, Nirvana dissolved along with the genre of grunge rock music. Grunge became less popular and with that a new genre of pop music began to rise in the industry.
How did Nirvana influence culture? ›
Nirvana kicked off the Big Bang of grunge music that also thrust their Seattle peers such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam all into the limelight, crystallising the scene as it had now come to be known as one of the biggest musical and cultural groundswells in music history, a decade-defining movement.
Who did Kurt Cobain inspire? ›
Chanteuse Lana Del Rey has pegged Kurt Cobain as her first musicial inspiration, revealing that listening to his music as a teen encouraged her to keep her own lyrics honest. She told Sirius XM in 2011: “When I was 11, I saw Kurt Cobain singing 'Heart-Shaped Box' on MTV and it really stopped me dead in my tracks.
Is Kurt Cobain vegan? ›
Cobain, a vegetarian, was a little horrified at the way his bandmates could choose which cow their meal came from with the help of colour photographs.
What brand was Kurt Cobain's cardigan? ›
Undoubtedly, the cardigan cause célèbre was also helped by Kurt Cobain, whose stained and crusy mohair olive green sweater by the defunct Perry Ellis-owned knitwear brand Manhattan Industries sold for a record $334,000 in late October, making it the most expensive sweater ever sold at auction.
Who bought Kurt Cobain's cardigan? ›
The cardigan, which has reportedly never been washed, last sold at auction in November 2015 for $140,800. In a new interview, Garrett Kletjian – who bought the cardigan in 2015 and previously remained anonymous – revealed that he felt too much pressure from owning the piece of rock 'n' roll memorabilia.
Who did Kurt Cobain admire? ›
The Melvins
They embodied everything that excited Cobain, and he was an avid fan for most of his adult life. The singer helped produce their album Houdini and even became a roadie for them in his adolescent years.
What made Kurt Cobain a genius? ›
A genius who showcased a sense of vulnerability and insecurity, Cobain did not fully know how much his influence had on musicians and the public. His ability, his knack for creating those simple but engaging riffs, those heart-breaking lyrics, will always be commended even 27 years after his death.
Why is Kurt Cobain an inspiration? ›
Kurt Cobain is an inspiration not only for his strength and individuality but also because of the person he was. He changed music forever and left quite the impression while doing so. He was very talented and a lot of his skills were self taught which that alone shows his dedication.
Why is Nirvana's logo a smiley face? ›
The logo was previously attributed to Kurt Cobain, and it's long been thought that he was inspired by a similar googly-eyed face that appeared on the marquee of the notorious Seattle strip club, The Lusty Lady. The marquee was also regularly boast terrible puns based on the smutty activity taking place within.
Nirvana's musical style has been mainly described as grunge, alternative rock, punk rock, and hard rock. Characterized by their punk aesthetic, Nirvana fused pop melodies with noise.
Who owns the Nirvana logo? ›
Lawyers for Nirvana assert that the band's company, Nirvana LLC, has full ownership of the image and that it was single-handedly created by Cobain that year and registered for copyright in 1993.
Who made grunge fashion popular? ›
Like grunge music, grunge fashion started in Seattle in the mid-1980s and gained widespread appeal by the mid-1990s. The fashion trend was made famous by rock bands such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. A key characteristic of grunge fashion is the use of durable thrift-store clothes.
Who invented grunge style? ›
Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain, in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term "grunge" to describe the music.
Who started grunge style? ›
The term grunge was first used to describe the murky-guitar bands (most notably Nirvana and Pearl Jam) that emerged from Seattle in the late 1980s as a bridge between mainstream 1980s heavy metal–hard rock and postpunk alternative rock.
How did Kurt Cobain get his tone? ›
Amp / Amp Settings
Kurt Cobain mainly used A Mesa Boogie Studio . 22 Preamp with a Crest 4801 Power Amp into a Marshall Cabinet. However, he used the clean channels without affecting the tone of the amp. Instead, he relied on his pedals for any kind of effects like distortion, delay, reverb, and chorus.
What was Kurt Cobain's dominant hand? ›
Kurt Cobain
The Nirvana frontman was a natural left-hander but was taught to write with his right hand. After years of having problems finding left-handed guitars, Fender made him special Mustangs once the band had become famous.
What color was Kurt Cobain's cardigan? ›
Kurt Cobain's famed green cardigan from Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert sold for $334,000 at auction Saturday, establishing a new record for the most expensive sweater ever sold at auction and more than doubling its final-bid sale price from just four years ago.
What shoes did Kurt Cobain use? ›
An NFT of a pair of black canvas Converse Jack Purcell shoes that were owned and worn by Kurt Cobain.
How much was Kurt Cobain's cardigan sold for? ›
A stained, cigarette-burned cardigan unwashed in nearly three decades has sold at auction for $334,000 (£260,000). Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain wore the green button-up during the band's MTV "Unplugged" performance in 1993.
It sold for US$334,000 last Saturday, which equates to more than $437,000 CAD. The item, which has never been washed, was expected to pull in between US$200,000 and $300,000. “It's very important that we don't wash it,” Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions told Rolling Stone. “The stains are still there.
What was Kurt Cobain tragic flaw? ›
In Kurt's case abusing drugs is his tragic flaw. Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20th 1967, in Aberdeen U.S.A. The famous lead vocalist and guitarist for the popular Alternative/Grunge group Nirvana, committed suicide on April 5th 1994.
Who started the cardigan trend? ›
Coco Chanel is credited with popularizing cardigans for women because "she hated how tight-necked men's sweaters messed up her hair when she pulled them over her head." The garment is mostly associated with the college culture of the Roaring Twenties and early 1930s, being also popular throughout the 1950s, 1970s, ...
Where did Kurt Cobain get his striped sweater? ›
Kurt got the sweater at Kings Hall in Belfast at a show he was playing with “the Breeders” and “Teenage Fanclub” in 1992. A fan named Chris Black was invited backstage after an alteration with the venue's security.
Is Kurt Cobain buried or cremated? ›
Was he cremated or buried? Courtney Love chose to cremate Kurt Cobain. Along with consecrating some of his ashes in a Buddhist ceremony, she and Cobain's loved ones eventually scattered the rest years later.
What aesthetic Did Kurt Cobain have? ›
Many believe Cobain to have defined the grunge aesthetic. Underneath his layers of tattered plaid shirts and disheveled cardigans, he often wore t-shirts of other musicians whom he admired. This included artists like Sonic Youth and Daniel Johnston.
What is Kurt Cobain famous for? ›
Kurt Cobain, in full Kurt Donald Cobain, (born February 20, 1967, Aberdeen, Washington, U.S.—died April 5, 1994, Seattle, Washington), American rock musician who rose to fame as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the seminal grunge band Nirvana.
Why did Kurt Cobain like to wear dresses? ›
“I like to wear dresses because they're comfortable,” Kurt Cobain told Melody Maker in December 1992. “There's nothing more comfortable than that cozy flower pattern… It just feels comfortable, sexy and free wearing a dress.
What is Kurt Cobain diagnosed with? ›
Kurt Cobain
The Nirvana front man and cultural icon was diagnosed with ADD at a young age and later with bipolar disorder. Kurt Cobain also struggled with substance abuse and developed a heroin addiction in the years leading up to his death.
Is Kurt Cobain a nice guy? ›
Cobain was the kind of person who believed in kindness and treating people justly and with respect. One should normally expect nothing less from a figure with a public platform, but this is just not the case most times.
"Smells Like Nirvana" was met with critical praise and helped to re-energize Yankovic's career. Cobain considered the parody as a sign that they had "made it" as a band.
Did the baby on the Nirvana cover get paid? ›
Elden's family was paid about $200, Elden's father told National Public Radio in 2008. "Nevermind" — a rock classic anchored by the era-defining hit singles "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Come as You Are" — propelled Nirvana to mainstream success.
Is the Nirvana logo copyrighted? ›
Lawyers for Nirvana assert that the band's company, Nirvana LLC, has full ownership of the image and that it was single-handedly created by Cobain that year and registered for copyright in 1993.
Kurt Cobain’s trademark baggy sweater, jeans and Converse became a global trend.