Lady Gaga‘s arrival at the new H&M flagship store in Times Square got the crowd going crazy and the battalions of security guards and celebrity handlers could barely contain the hurrah. Diva Gaga arrived in a pink bus, wearing a paint-streaked H&M cat suit and worked the public by waving from her ride.
“It’s such a coup d’état for us to be in such a corporate environment,” she said, referring both to herself and to the stacks of her “Artpop” albums on sale in the store. “This is the first time that they’ve ever carried an album by a recording artist,” she added.
Her strategy, she said about co-operating with the Swedish label, is to inject her wayward artistry into a very much corporate setting.
Indeed, the promise of shopping at the new flagship store paled in comparison as a throng had begun gathering as early as 5pm just to see the pop star.
After more than an hour, the celebrity fever subsided and all the visitors began mobbing the racks of the store and layering the garments on them in front of any available mirror.
What do you think benefited more from Gaga’s visit to H&M? The clothing label, or the sales of Gaga’s “Artpop” album?