Reality TV competition series have surprisingly manufactured some significant girl groups over the years, from MTV’s Danity Kane to The X Factor’s Little Mix and Fifth Harmony to K-pop group Twice. And their signature styles were often as influential as their music. The latest, greatest girl group to come out of such a show is Katseye. Spawned from “The Debut: Dream Academy” — a real-time performance competition that selected and trained individuals to form a global girl group — the six members of Katseye officially debuted (fittingly with their single “Debut”) in June 2024. And they’ve been breaking boundaries and defying expectations ever since.
The original members (and their fan-dubbed roles) are leader Sophia Laforteza, main vocalist Lara Raj, lead dancer Daniela Avanzini, visual symbol Manon Bannerman, all-rounder Megan Skiendiel, and “maknae” or youngest member Yoonchae Jeung. Though they come from South Korea, the Philippines, Switzerland, and the United States — and have South Asian, Chinese, and Latin American roots — and predominantly sing in English, the group is considered K-pop because of its specific training system.
From distinctive “eras” and viral dance routines (who doesn’t know their Gap denim commercial or “Pinky Up” music video at this point?) to monumental festival debuts and even more surprising hiatuses, Katseye has rocked the world in the two years that it’s existed. To take a deeper dive into the group’s evolving eras and unique fashion aesthetics, I previously spoke to celebrity stylist Katie Qian — who also styles the likes of Tyla, Alysa Liu, and Conan Gray — ahead of Katseye’s Governors Ball debut. Ahead, she gives insight into the girl group’s already-iconic outfits (with a look inside Qian’s camera) and shares what she has in store for them next (in their “Wild” era).
Photos: Jeremychanphotography/Getty Images, Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
While she didn’t work with Katseye straight out of “Dream Academy,” Qian started styling the group in late 2025 for The Beautiful Chaos Tour. There, she joined forces with creative director Humberto Leon and visual director Joao Moraes to craft a distinctive, cohesive look for the members.
“Being thrown into the Katseye world, there’s just a lot to learn because there’s so many girls and a lot of creatives involved. It’s been really fun developing that aesthetic for them,” Qian tells Refinery29. “Humberto and I connected and we were really excited to work together in the ‘Gnarly’ era,” Qian says.
This era, or musical chapter, includes singles like “Gnarly” and “Gabriela” along with The Beautiful Chaos Tour. At the time, the girls were styled in bold black ‘fits. “‘Gnarly’ was a lot of dark tones, a lot of leather, and hardware. I would say it’s more of a dark and edgy era,” Qian adds. Think: black leather sets, lots of plaid, animal prints and fur, grommets, pinstripe suits, denim, and fiery reds.
But there’s a big distinction for Qian when styling for a tour versus a music video versus a red carpet. “For tour, there’s just a lot more to consider when we are creating the looks. These girls are dancing, doing insane choreography, they’re doing stunts. So when we’re creating the tour looks, it’s really functionality first and it needs to be really performance-friendly,” Qian explains. “And the looks also need to withstand the test of time if they’re dancing for two hours every single night for a few months.”
Photos: Katie Qian.
Post-tour, the next big styling moments came at the top of 2026 with Spotify’s annual Best New Artist Party and the 68th Grammy Awards, where the group gave a glimpse of departing from its previous era’s dark palettes. “I definitely am always just on the lookout for designers I think would be a good fit for Katseye. It’s definitely a niche. I’m looking for specific people who are able to create a bunch of different looks that look cohesive together,” Qian explains.
For the Spotify nominees’ red carpet looks, the members stunned in crystal-adorned mermaidcore designs from luxury Lebanese designer Georges Hobeika. Each member wore a distinctive gown or matching set in silver, pale pink, or deep green, creating the effect of a glamorous fairy tribe.
Then for the Grammys red carpet, Qian followed a similar formula, pulling from one designer (Ludovic de Saint Sernin) and focusing on the same colors and fabrics (white lace and leather, plus silver crystal mesh) across the six members for a cohesive girl group look. “For award shows, we just keep it more refined usually because on the carpet, I feel like things translate completely differently than if it’s in a video or in concept photos that we’re taking,” Qian explains, adding: “We just try to make all of them look nice standing next to each other. It has to be a bit more refined and sophisticated looking, and not too overwhelming.” (Though for their actual Grammys “Gnarly” performance, they dressed in accordance to the era with Kim Possible-esque Off-White utilitarian costumes.)
Photos: Rich Polk/Getty Images, Gilbert Flores/Getty Images.
Then in a surprising turn of events, it was announced on February 20 that Manon would be taking a hiatus to focus on her mental health. But with a full schedule of music video drops and festival season on the docket, the remaining five members were still ready to give us great performances and even greater looks.
Their Lollapalooza Chile and Festival Estéreo Picnic performances in March still tied to the “Gnarly” aesthetic and era, but focused more on metallic blues, bold ketchup and mustard combos, and animal print rather than head-to-toe black. But then, we entered a completely new era.
The ‘Pinky Up’ music video had this overarching tea party but made rave and chaotic kind of vibe.
— Katie Qian
On April 9, Katseye released their next single and music video, “Pinky Up,” which perhaps catapulted the group most into the cultural zeitgeist. The upbeat song and quick-paced choreography meshed with outlandish costumes, creating a viral moment.
“Music videos are my favorite because we can go really crazy and conceptual with the looks. For ‘Pinky Up,’ I felt like we could make all of our wildest dreams come true, because although they are doing choreography, it’s not live,” Qian says. “There’s also a concept for a music video, so it’s really fun to tell a story with the looks.
“The ‘Pinky Up’ music video had this overarching tea party but made rave and chaotic kind of vibe. It’s just really vibrant, a lot of layering, and really kitschy and maximal,” Qian explains. “But then obviously we take each girl’s preferences into consideration, and they get to pick which looks they wear.”
This truly felt like the first time each member got distinctive looks that really stood apart from each other and were as dynamic as their personalities with lots of color, texture, and quirky accessorizing. Aside from one scene where the group wears the exact same Fembot-inspired outfits and blonde wigs, each girl wore multiple looks just as out-there as the next. Qian shares: “I think the looks from the ‘Pinky Up’ music video are my favorite. I just felt like they have character to them, and it’s like diving into a whole new world because that was the first peek of their new era.”
Photos: Katie Qian.
This era came just one day before the group’s Coachella debut where they got to perform the immediate-hit song, donning Alice in Wonderland-coded pastel striped and polka-dotted bra and short sets during Weekend 1, and Victoria’s Secret Angel-coded nude and pink lingerie looks for Weekend 2. This was just the start for their monumental “Pinky Up” era and aesthetic.
“The first weekend of Coachella was kind of psycho tea party vibes. And for the AMAs, we had this plushy concept. And now for Gov Ball, we’re doing something that really dives into this polka dot concept that we have been exploring in the ‘Pinky Up’ era,” Qian explains. To get the aesthetic down, Qian brought in Vietnamese brand La Lune to create the statement-making looks for all of these performances.
Photos: Katie Qian.
Since Governor’s Ball, Katseye released their single and music video “Animal” in July where we got a peek into a moodier, businesscore aesthetic (similar to “Gnarly”) for the upcoming “Wild” era. In August, the group also announced a short hiatus for Sophia’s health before the four reamaining members performed at a couple of music festivals, wearing looks that felt like a hybrid of “Pinky Up” pastels and prints with contrasting “Wild” blacks.
“My favorite part of the styling process is probably just getting to realize all these crazy visions that we have in our heads. Humberto and I will just be chatting on the phone like: ‘What should we do that’s never been seen before?’ Qian shares. At the time of speaking with the stylist, she couldn’t divulge much about the next era. “For Wild, I don’t know yet, actually. I can’t say just yet, but I’m sure that Humberto and Joao are thinking of some really fun ideas for us to explore in the ‘Wild’ Era.”
And with Katseye’s documentary Wild Hearts releasing today, their EP Wild launching on August 14, plus a world tour kicking off on September 1, we’re in for an era upgrade and a lot more wild style.
Photo: Katie Qian. |
Header photos: Rich Polk/Getty Images, Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.
Look out for Refinery29’s upcoming shopping guide to get Katseye’s look, according to Qian, whether you’re attending their WildWorld Tour or channeling a bold and wild fall.
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