The King of Pop Inspires Military Fashion Movement

Michael Jackson was not only the King of Pop, he played a major influence on the current miliary-inspired fashion trend.

Designer Balmain catapulted this style to the forefront with this famously expensive crystal-encrusted canvas jacket for spring that retailed for $11,410 (netaporter.com), and stars like Beyonce and Rihanna have been sporting the jackets around with skinny jeans.

With its severe cut and angled shoulders, it looks strikingly similiar to the red leather jacket Jackson wore for his ubiquitous "Thriller" video.

Beyonce, a huge Jackson fan, admitted she had a Thriller-inspired jacket back in the day, so it makes sense she jumped on the military trend now.

Not surprisingly, Jackson—who loved glitzy clothes— was also fond of Balmain. He reportedly was introduced to the label via French Vogue director Emanuelle Alt. Jackson was seen wearing two pieces from the designer's collection—a women's T-shirt from fall 2009 and a jacket from spring 2009.

Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50, was not going to wear Balmain during his upcoming tour, but sparkly looks by Crystallized Swarovski Elements.

This was a difficult week in the entertainment industry, with Farrah Fawcett, an icon from the Seventies, passing, and now Michael Jackson, the ultimate Eighties/MTV superstar.

I'm happy I saw the "Thriller" concert in 1984 and was a big fan of Jackson's music; I, too, tried to copy his dance moves (not successfully) and admired his over-the-top style.

If money were no object, I probably would be sporting that Balmain crystal jacket.

It will be interesting to see if other fashion designers will be inspired by Jackson in the coming seasons. For fall, you can bet there will be countless copies of that thousand-dollar military jacket in stores—from Gap and Forever 21 to Target and H&M.

And what about that jacket—the one Beyoncé has? It's already on sale, for a mere $6,389.60 at Net-a-Porter.