Superstar pianist Yuja Wang, who is arguably as famous for her on-stage fashion choices as she is for her extraordinary technique, is auctioning some of her concert gowns on eBay. First to be offered is a glittering silver gown she says she wore during a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 with the Vienna Philharmonic.
Wang set the opening bid at $1,500 and claims in the item description that the one-of-a-kind gown has a retail value of $10,000. There have been no bids at the time of publication, although the listing has been viewed more than 2,000 times over the past 24 hours.
Wang’s keyboard technique and musicality are unassailable, however her fashion choices have drawn both supporters and detractors over the years; some concertgoers appreciate that Wang embraces fashion as part of her art, while others feel her dresses — which are often shorter and tighter than one might typically see in the conservative fashion environment of a concert hall — distract from her music making. Both opinions have helped fuel Wang’s fame as she has risen to become one of the most in-demand concert pianists in the world today.
The gown on auction closes on Sunday, Sept. 8, with a delivery date anywhere in the world before the end of the month. Additional auctions are implied in the current listing but are not yet officially announced.
