Lady Gaga has signed a multiyear deal with Polaroid — not only to be a face for the instant-photography brand, but also to help the company develop new cameras and accessories.
Under the contract, the 23-year-old pop star will be named a creative director at Polaroid, which was scooped out of bankruptcy last May by a pair of private-equity firms that have begun to license out its name for a wide array of gadgets.
“Lady Gaga is a great creative talent who has a lot of passion for this brand,” said Jamie Salter of Hilco Consumer Capital, one of Polaroid’s new owners.
Polaroid executives said consumers could expect to see Lady Gaga pop up in Polaroid’s marketing efforts soon after the deal is announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The company said it is “aggressively pursuing” a Christmas 2010 launch of a line of Lady Gaga-branded products.
Said Lady Gaga in a statement: “The Haus of Gaga has been developing prototypes in the vein of fashion/technology/photography innovation — blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era — and we are excited to collaborate on these ventures with the Polaroid brand.
“Lifestyle, music, art, fashion: I am so excited to extend myself behind the scenes as a designer and to — as my father puts it — finally, have a real job.”
Polaroid declined to disclose financial terms of its agreement with the singer, who was one of the top album sellers of 2009.
The partnership is part of a larger bid to revive Polaroid as a global brand for digital photography and printing, as well as accessories like polarized sunglasses — pioneered by founder Edwin Land in 1937.
Having already introduced a line of “Zink” digital cameras that can print photos immediately after they’re taken, Polaroid this year will re-introduce a line of analog instant cameras and film similar to its famous “One Step” model that dominated in the ’70s and ’80s.
Meanwhile, the Lady Gaga product line could account for as much as 30 percent of Polaroid’s business, according to Vice President Jon Pollock.
Lady Gaga, whose only other corporate merchandise deal to date is a line of headphones, “will be involved in everything from concept to product design to marketing” at Polaroid, Pollock said. “She’ll be coming in a couple times a month at a minimum.”
Polaroid signed Lady Gaga after scouring celebrity circles for six months, he said.
“We found out she was a rabid Polaroid fan — she’s done multiple shoots with our cameras before we announced any partnership,” Pollock said. “She likes the fact that it’s very real and authentic and creative and inspirational — she’s very Andy Warhol-ish in the way she approaches the market.” james.covert@nypost.com