Part of getting older is accepting that the artists and bands you love will eventually fall under the “classic” umbrella. Their music will be played on radio stations that specialize in classic rock and, eventually, even maybe “oldies.”
As Gen Xers get older, they’ve come to accept that Nirvana is one of those bands. Once the cutting edge of youth culture and, pun intended, teen spirit, the band is now firmly in the “legacy” category, and is more of a brand than anything.
And yet, seeing a Nirvana T-shirt priced at more than $4,000 is enough to turn your hair even more gray than it’s already getting.
In today’s day and age where Kardashians are wearing Slayer and Metallica shirts, old band shirts have a high fashion appeal to them. But Yves Saint Laurent just launched a line of ’90s- and grunge-inspired products, including a Nirvana Shirt featuring the “Insecticide” album cover that costs $4,450.
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) is selling vintage Nirvana t-shirts for $4,450 https://t.co/UqWDcPJGuy The world has really gone mad….. pic.twitter.com/VP4qjN8mBJ
— marcus austin (@marcusa) July 19, 2023
Other shirts from the collection include an “Unplugged” tee for $1,370, an “In Utero” shirt for $2,690, and even the shirt the band is currently being sued over for $1,390.
Elsewhere in the “vintage” collection, there are shirts for bands like the Cranberries ($890) and beloved shows like “The Twilight Zone” ($350).
As High Snobiety pointed out, these aren’t actual vintage shirts. They weren’t taken from some lost collection of ’90s souvenirs that sat for a couple of decades in a Seattle attic. They are YSL blanks “printed with referential designs,” meaning that, on paper, all of the T-shirts are the same value, but you’re paying for the ink on top.
Do you think this album cover T-shirt is worth more than $4,000, especially when it’s available in plenty of other places? This at least indicates that brands see the value in a good T-shirt decoration. Does it mean that your promotional apparel products are suddenly worth thousands? Probably not. But, it could be worth a lot in sentimental value and brand visibility.
And that’s priceless.
