Superfans amass vast pop-star memorabilia collections, often for emotional reasons

Fans around the world are building vast collections of pop-star memorabilia for emotional reasons rather than profit. In London, 52-year-old spray-tan artist James Harknett has arranged more than 12,500 Madonna-related items in his home and estimates he has spent more than $650,000 on the collection.

Harknett’s holdings range from CDs and vintage magazines to an oversized rhinestone bracelet Madonna wore in the “Material Girl” video and three costumes from the film Evita. Other collectors include Zachary Gordon-Abraham, who amassed thousands of Britney Spears items after receiving a doll as a child; Francie Elliott, who keeps about 1,000 Mariah Carey items in a “Mariah Room” and estimates she has spent $50,000 to $100,000; and Cleonilson Junior in Salvador, Brazil, who has more than 2,000 Kylie Minogue pieces.

The market can be costly and unpredictable: a Whitney Houston stage catsuit sold for $22,400, an original David Bowie “Aladdin Sane” print fetched more than $500,000, and a Cher Bob Mackie dress went for nearly $58,000. Claire Tole-Moir of Bonhams warned that for household names scarcity matters, but for many artists future values are harder to predict.

She added, “If you love it, then you will always get some return.” Collectors and experts trace the impulse to collect to longstanding cultural habits: Robert Thompson said the trend dates to ancient Rome, when Pliny the Elder collected autographs, and later figures such as Goethe and Brahms compiled albums.

Key Topics

Culture, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Bonhams