Coty Inc. and Lady Gaga Announce Fragrance Partnership

NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Coty Inc., a leading global beauty company, officially announced today the signing of international and multifaceted artistic force Lady Gaga to develop and market her first-ever signature fragrance.

Having sold more than 13 million albums and 52 million singles worldwide, Lady Gaga is one of the most influential celebrities and powerful musicians today, making the artist the most recent dynamic addition to Coty's portfolio of celebrity partnerships. Known for her larger than life persona, Lady Gaga's fragrance will be a seamless extension of her combined talent for music, video, fashion and art.

The creation of a fragrance ultimately will allow Lady Gaga to intimately connect with her fans on a global scale. "Lady Gaga's universal appeal makes her a subject of fascination. A force like no other, Lady Gaga is explosive, provocative and sexy, three traits which pave the way for an extraordinary fragrance experience for consumers," declared Bernd Beetz, Chief Executive Officer, Coty Inc.

"Coty is recognized as a world leader in celebrity fragrance. Globally, Coty's leadership in celebrity fragrance is undisputed," said Beetz. "We welcome Lady Gaga to the Coty family and look forward to breaking boundaries that will allow people to experience beauty in a different and unique way."

The yet-to-be named fragrance line is expected to launch in spring 2012. Distributed worldwide, the fragrance will be managed by the Company's Coty Beauty division in close collaboration with Lady Gaga, who will be Creative Director, and her Haus of Gaga team.

"The marketing behind Lady Gaga's fragrance will be unprecedented and groundbreaking," said Steve Mormoris, Sr. V.P. of Global Marketing for Coty Beauty. "We are working toward distilling the brilliance of Lady Gaga into a fragrance that delivers a breathtaking olfactory experience and a timeless, enduring packaging design that is part of Lady Gaga's overall artistic sensibility," said Mormoris.

Marketing plans for the fragrance are currently in development.

Additional information will be announced closer to the launch. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Coty Inc.

Coty was created in Paris in 1904 by Francois Coty who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry.

Today, Coty Inc. is a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of nearly $4 billion. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, innovation and creativity, Coty Inc. has developed an unrivaled portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide.

The Coty Prestige brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Chloe, Chopard, Davidoff, Home Skin Lab, Jennifer Lopez, Jil Sander, JOOP!, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Cole, L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, La Voce by Renee Fleming , Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Nikos, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood and Wolfgang Joop.

The Coty Beauty brand portfolio is more widely distributed and includes adidas, ASTOR, Baby Phat, Beyonce Knowles, Celine Dion, Chupa Chups, David and Victoria Beckham, Esprit, Exclamation, Faith Hill, GUESS, Halle Berry, Jovan, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, La Cross, Miss Sixty, Miss Sporty, N.Y.C. New York Color, Pierre Cardin(1), Playboy, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, Shania Twain, Stetson, Tim McGraw, and Tonino Lamborghini.

Coty and Puig Fashion and Beauty S.A. have a strategic partnership for the distribution of the perfume lines of Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Paco Rabanne, and Antonio Banderas in the United States and Canada.

For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.

(1) Not available in North America

About Lady Gaga:

Lady Gaga exploded onto the global cultural landscape last year with her massive pop anthems and her fashion-forward aesthetics. Worldwide she has sold more than 13 million copies of her debut album, The Fame, and more than 50 million singles, making her music's biggest breakout star of the decade.

She is the first artist in history to claim four #1 hits from a debut album ("Just Dance," "Poker Face," "LoveGame" and "Paparazzi"). She is also the only artist in the digital era to top the 5 million sales mark with her first two hits. Gaga broke the record when her single "Poker Face" reached 5 million in sales after her debut single "Just Dance" accomplished the same feat the year before.  

She has over 1 billion combined views of all her videos online, and The Fame is the best selling digital album of all time.  She is also a staple in the social networking world. She's the biggest living person on Facebook with over 21 million 'likes,' and is #1 on Twitter with over 6.9 million followers. Her recent tour, the "electro-pop-opera" extravaganza "The Monster Ball" kicked off last year following the release of her album The Fame Monster (a re-package of The Fame).

In a time when concert-going has decreased significantly, Lady Gaga's tour continues to be a booming success. The winner of two Grammy Awards (she has been nominated for six), Lady Gaga also recently broke the record for the most MTV Video Music Award nominations in history with 13 nods in 2010.

SOURCE Coty Inc.