Beyond a partnership that allows beauty consumers to shop with flexible payment methods, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga and Klarna share a core set of values ​​that are wide deep and impactful. Haus Labs’ chief marketing officer, Kelly Coller, and Natalia Brzezinski, head of strategy at Klarna, US, shared with the audience at the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit that it was no accident that the two were sharing the stage, but rather the strategic culmination of two companies driven by investment for the greater economy.

“Klarna is absolutely not just a vendor, in fact, they’re quite the opposite,” Coller said. “We have a number of programs together that go deep and wide, including the creation of our Klarna Content Studio, which is on site at our headquarters specifically created to develop that greater economy. We use it all the time for our photo shoots, video shoots and our product shots.”

Lady Gaga uses it too, she said, and it has served as an element of inviting the world to be part of a larger conversation. “Together we are very invested in the greater economy. We think it’s mission critical and we believe in community. “

When Coller joined the Haus Labs team it was to reinvent the company, to revolutionize clean beauty. As a futurist, Lady Gaga’s original vision for the brand was to create the “next generation of beauty, a supercharged artistry brand powered by innovation.”

“That was our crystal-clear white space that we developed together, supercharged because it was chock full of proprietary patented skin care ingredients and supercharged because this was the first time that a beauty brand could be clean artistry,” Coller said. “Dirty artistry is delightful, and we love that, but to be clean artistry, something free of toxins and pollutants and, of course, vegan and cruelty-free, is next level and requires an immense amount of agility and deep passion as well as diligence and focus .”

Coller and Brzezinski agreed that despite Lab Haus and Klarna being different-sized organizations, both companies count digital capabilities, agility and innovation as integral to their brand. For Haus Labs, this means being open to any new ideas, allowing everything to be open for discussion.

Brzezinski shared that video has been exceptionally powerful for both Klarna and Haus Labs, providing both entertainment and education. In addition to videos on social media, Klarna’s app uses shoppable videos, which have been successful in taking social shopping to the next level and reaching different audiences.

“It’s about being absolutely authentic, you know, keeping one eye open but dreaming and being laser focused on what it is that you’re set to do,” Coller said. “I would say we’re mission focused on our brand and who our clients are. And then as we look at the different social channels, we’re clear about who that audience is — we’re focused on the older Millennials — so this may come as a surprise because TikTok is so wildly successful and it’s a huge driver of our viral products.”

Above all, Coller and Brzezinski said, what brought Klarna and Haus Labs together in partnership and has importantly grown the companies’ consumer base, has been the community-driven, values-driven content that goes beyond being performative. Whether on video, through social social media captions or campaign imagery, the focus remains on inclusion, transparency and connection.

“We want people to be seen and heard, and we’re here to disrupt the marketplace but not for the sake of disruption, for the sake of kindness and bravery,” Coller said. “I have always hired my team and metric others under two principles, which are have a big heart and have big ideas. I think if you could do those two things and you can be laser focused, you’ve got the potential to be unstoppable.”