EXCLUSIVE: Pandora Gets Creative With Keith Haring Collection
PARIS — After the Avengers, Minnie Mouse and Harry Potter, Pandora is launching a line featuring some of the most famous works by the late street art legend Keith Haring.
The 12-piece capsule will include charms, rings and earrings featuring Haring’s signature heart shapes, barking dog and graphic scrawls.
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“There’s an openness and approachability to Haring’s philosophy,” said chief product officer Stephen Fairchild, on why the brand chose Haring as its first artist collaboration. “Haring’s unique artistic vision has had and continues to have an enduring influence on global culture.
“The collection and its campaign highlights Keith Haring’s artistic legacy and celebrates the lasting power of his iconic, signature Pop Art style. It encapsulates the infectious energy of the zeitgeist that shaped his most iconic works,” Fairchild told WWD.
It’s the first time the Danish company has partnered with an artist, and it’s part of Pandora’s overall growth strategy, which aims to double revenues in the U.S. and triple sales in China by 2023. The company has been vocal about its push to attract younger customers, particularly Millennial and Gen Z.
“We have previously focused on two types of collaborations — volume drivers, where we collaborate with bigger brands…and purpose-driven,” Fairchild said. “This is a new collaboration territory for us — a brand-building, cult collaboration.”
Pandora has a history of collaborations, including tapping into Disney’s deep well of intellectual property. Through that partnership Pandora has created pieces around Marvel, Cinderella, Minnie Mouse and Star Wars. They’ve also featured Harry Potter, and have a longstanding partnership with UNICEF.
Sales for the various collaboration amounted to 10 percent of total revenue in the second quarter, up 34 percent year-over-year, in financial results reported earlier this year.
“They are a key asset to grow our core,” Fairchild said of the collaboration business. The Keith Haring line “targets a new demographic and audience compared to our existing volume driver collaborations,” he added.
While it may be the first time Pandora is working with an artist, the brand has plans for other artists, musicians and fashion collaborations going forward as part of a broader brand-shift strategy. “This takes our core product and elevates it with a strong pipeline of innovation and creativity,” he said.
Fairchild added Pandora customers are interested in more unique offerings from the brand, and the company sees “considerable opportunities with existing consumers’ interest in the art category.”
The brand revamped its Me line late last year and has brought on TikTok star Addison Rae and singer Charli XCX as faces of the collection.
The limited-edition Keith Haring collection will be available worldwide from Sept. 29 to Nov. 29.