After months of rumours and teasers, Lady Gaga has finally officially announced her beauty brand: Haus Laboratories.
Inspired by Gaga’s early days in New York when the aspiring singer was using drugstore make-up to create what would become her signature look, Haus Laboratories will sell “multi-use colour items for cheeks, eyes and lips in six shade families and kits containing all three products,” according to Business of Fashion, and will launch exclusively on Amazon – the first major beauty brand to do so.
“The last thing the world needs is another beauty brand. Too bad!” Gaga announces in the campaign video, shot by Daniel Sannwald. “They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But at Haus Laboratories, we say beauty is how you see yourself.”
Launching a beauty brand that championed messages of self-acceptance and freedom of expression was very important to Gaga. “When I was young, I never felt beautiful,” she wrote on Instagram. “And as I struggled to find a sense of both inner and outer beauty, I discovered the power of makeup.”
“I found the superhero within me by looking in the mirror and seeing who I wanted to be. Sometimes beauty doesn't come naturally from within. But I'm so grateful that makeup inspired a bravery in me I didn't know I had. I've come to accept that I discovered my beauty by having the ability to invent myself and transform.”
Haus Laboratories will launch exclusively on Amazon in September, with pre-orders available at the brand’s official website starting July 15. The retail giant has plans to release the products simultaneously in nine countries on three continents, including the US, France and Germany. Little Monsters in other countries shouldn’t fear, however, as the brand will also be available to buy through its global store. Kits containing three products will retail for $49. While Amazon isn’t the typical retailer that brands usually turn to when launching, Gaga felt strongly that the company was the only option for her. “This [deal with Amazon] was so wonderful because this was like, ‘Let’s make a deal, let’s make a deal to change the world with their beauty,’” she told Business of Fashion.
“I have a platform in the world. God gave me this voice for a reason, I don’t know why, I ask myself that question all the time, but I’m sure as hell not going to put out a beauty brand that is going to drive insecurity and fear into people. This is about liberation.”
