Vintage Nirvana Canadian Heart-Shaped Box T-Shirt

This vintage T-shirt has undergone a meticulous in-person examination by an authenticator (James A.), who has concluded that it is an authentic 1990s Vintage Canadian Nirvana Heart-Shaped Box T-shirt. It is licensed by Backstage Pass with an XL Sogo tag. 

Due to this garment's condition, scarcity, and highly sought-after status - it qualifies for platinum Defunkd certification.

This T-shirt is in excellent condition. The only flaws appear to be fabric fade and print wear.

This item is Excellent+ condition.

The following factors contributed to this grade:

The fabric has a consistent, subtle fade, with certain areas that are more obvious, shown below.

The front print to the right/side of top print.

And to the left of the lower bottom of the print.

The rear, right of the print near the arm seam.

And lower right of the print.

The front print has some wear, fade and ink cracking.

The rear print has less obvious ink cracking and generally appears to be less worn.

After examining the item's construction, there are no issues with stitching on the collar, shoulders, or arms.

There are no holes, rips, tears, marks, or stains.

The horizontal centering of the print on the front and back both appear to be slightly skewed to the left.

Additionally:

• In certain lighting conditions, there's a sparkle effect on the gold Nirvana print.
• Due to how the cotton on this piece was woven, ever-so-faint horizontal lines are visible under high lighting conditions.
• There are no signs of any repair or restoration.
• The collar has not been stretched or warped, and the neck elasticity is optimal.
• This t-shirt is not in deadstock condition and was laundered in the 90s, so there is no dry rot concern.
• No pilling.
• The print registration is optimal, with no creases or errors.
• There is no discoloration on the fabric in the underarm areas.

Print type: Front & Back: Flat, with half-tones.

Color Profile: 

Front: white underlay (visible on flower), pink, tan, yellow, blue, gold, red

Back: white underlay (not visible), blue, red, purple, lime green

Color: Black

Construction: Dual Side Seam

Fabric: 100% Cotton

Stitching Profile: 2,2,2,1 (double stitch on collar, arms, double on bottom hem and single in side-seams.)

Pit-to-Pit: 25" (63.5 cm) (The chest measurements are robust for a 1990s XL, may even be considered a 2XL in that era. )

Full Length: 30" (76.2 cm) (center, rear collar to front bottom hem)

Left Shoulder seam to arm hem: 7.87" (20 cm)

Right shoulder seam to arm hem:  8" (20.32 cm)

Left Arm Opening:  10" (25.4 cm)

Right Arm Opening: 10" (25.4 cm)

(The right/left measurements above are from the perspective of the wearer's body)

Tag: Sogo Nylon/Poly tag

Size: XL

Fabric: 100% Cotton

Installation: Sewn-Under, well centered on the neckline, fastened ever so slightly crooked.

Condition: The tag is in excellent shape, with minimal wear or fade. There is a puncture in the center, likely where it was tagged by a retail outlet.

Width: 1.25" (3.175 cm)

Length: 1" (2.54 cm) (visible tag)

"I have several Nirvana t-shirts, so it's a bit foggy as to where each one came from. I would have bought it in Ontario, probably somewhere near my hometown (Cobourg) so anywhere from there to Toronto (I know not a big help).

If I got it in Cobourg, it would have been probably from the local music shop (I want to say the name of the one I used to go to was Zaps, but I also maybe am not remembering the name correctly; I think it at least started with a Z) or maybe the music store in the mall (I think there was one in our mall at one point).

If I got it outside of Cobourg it would probably have been purchased somewhere between Oshawa and Toronto, maybe Peterborough but that could have been at any different type of store from a mall to a small independent music store.

I've been trying to think of more details, but I can't really remember much, other than wearing them all to high school. I remember having to wear a flannel over two of them because of the swear words on the back.

I don't think hypnosis would even help. I had a lot of fun in the 90s."

- Michelle P., Ontario, Canada

Kurt Cobain and Robert Fisher are credited as art directors for Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box album, which this t-shirt is based on. Cobain took the cover photo of a heart-shaped box sent to him by Courtney Love early in their relationship. Fisher then did the graphic design and layout.

We've been unable to determine whether Robert Fisher took these components and created a t-shirt design.

credit/juliensauctions.com

No known legitimate reissue of this particular version of the Heart-Shaped Box t-shirt exists. However, semi-convincing counterfeits do exist, complete with counterfeit Giant tags.

©Nirvana 1993, licensed by Backstage Pass, printed on the lower right edge of the heart.

The Canadian Heart-Shaped Box is a variant of the first version of this t-shirt, which is an all-over print.

The other known version of this t-shirt was printed on a Hanes t-shirt.

There is no record of the Canadian HSB t-shirt selling on eBay in the last three years. Further, I couldn't find a  record of one selling among WorthPoint data.

The only sale I've verified was from 2021, when arcinthesky sold it for $8500 USD via cloakedinblack.com.

No other sales records exist, as it has changed hands privately or on platforms that don't share sales data. According to one Nirvana collector, bulletholevintage, one was rumored to sell privately for $13,500 USD, which is unconfirmed.

We estimate this item will sell for $7500-$15,000 (USD). It is scheduled for auction on eBay on March 3, 2025. We'll update this section when the auction concludes.

This item's final auction price on eBay was $14,900, but it ended up being sold privately for $13,544. Sale is confirmed. 

This t-shirt is commonly viewed as one of the most expensive and sought-after vintage Nirvana t-shirts. It lands in the top 5 on our all-time highest-selling Nirvana shirts list.

While authenticating this t-shirt, we thoroughly researched Sogo tag history.

In 2024, I spoke with Joel Rabinowitz, the former CEO of Backstage Pass. He was amazed that there were fake Backstage Pass t-shirts and quite shocked by the hefty price tag of the Heart-Shaped Box t-shirt, among others.

I consulted with t-shirt screen printing veteran Brett Weiss to better assess this t-shirt's print.

8 high-resolution microscopic images highlighting the unique characteristics of this t-shirt—such as its print, fabric, and tag—have been captured and securely linked to this certificate. Just as no two fingerprints are alike, no two vintage tees are identical. These images create a robust and verifiable connection between this certification and the garment, eliminating the need for aftermarket tags, marks, or alterations, thereby preserving the t-shirt's original state.

To prevent counterfeiters from copying our photos, the publicly visible ones have been reduced in quality, while the original, high-res images have been stored privately with this certificate. Watch the video in the Photos & Video section for the most accurate showcase of this garment's appearance.

Given that this t-shirt was printed in limited quantities, we expect the print area on all originals to be identical. As an additional authentication data point, we've taken photos of the print measurements and included them with the secret photos attached to this certificate.

These images are exclusively accessible by Defunkd for future verification.

Additional information discovered after the original publishing date of this certificate can be added to the following sections:

• Artists
• Reissues or Counterfeits
• Licensing
• Related Material
• Value
• Variants
• Notes

Changes will be noted here.

All other sections are locked except for formatting, errors, grammatical corrections, or additional photos.