Three years ago, six young women—Sophia, Lara, Manon, Daniela, Megan, and Yoonchae—were suddenly thrust into global fame when they appeared on the Netflix reality show The Debut: Dream Academy. They beat out 100,000 other contestants to become part of the pop group Katseye.
The concept was unusual. Katseye was created through a partnership between South Korean music powerhouse Hybe and American record label Geffen Records. They pioneered a unique cross-market model that combined Korea’s intense idol training system with Western mainstream pop production. Their diverse backgrounds were also a big draw—the six members come from countries like the US, Switzerland, the Philippines, and South Korea.
Another key part of building the group’s image was the insider fashion knowledge they got from close collaborators, including creative director Humberto Leon (co-founder of the once-trendy shopping spot Opening Ceremony and former co-designer at Kenzo) and stylist Katie Qian, whose clients include Tyla, Conan Gray, Camila Cabello, and Tinashe.
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Before long, Katseye earned rare early-career recognition, appearing on the covers of i-D, Teen Vogue, InStyle, Allure, and Nylon magazines. They also landed spots on the Billboard charts and received two Grammy nominations. Brands like Fendi, Pandora, Lush, and Glossier soon came calling.
In 2024, Katseye made their first fashion week appearance, attending Coach’s Spring/Summer 2025 runway show in New York. In 2025, the group starred in a Gap campaign where they danced in low-rise denim to the 2003 Kelis song “Milkshake.” The ad—reported to have generated eight billion media impressions and over 500 million cross-platform views, making it Gap’s most viral and highly engaged advertisement ever—was so widely praised that it became a textbook case study for marketers and marketing professors around the world.
Katseye attended the Coach Spring 2025 show.
Photo: Getty Images
It also boosted sales. Gap saw double-digit growth in its denim category and a 7% year-on-year increase in comparable sales during Q3 2025, according to the group’s earnings report. Executives partly credit its campaigns with Katseye and Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko for this. “The strength of fan communities shows up in the number of people we see coming to our stores after launch—eager not only to shop the product worn by Katseye and Young Miko, but to see how the campaign comes to life in our retail experience,” said Fabiola Torres, Gap’s global CMO, in a Vogue Business interview earlier this year.
When Lush collaborated with Katseye in 2025, the beauty and lifestyle brand released a limited-edition purple and yellow star bath bomb, as well as six collectible artisan soaps representing each member. For Lush’s head of concepts and collaborations, Kalem Brinkworth, the intensity of the group’s fandom was surprising. “I’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve obviously had lots of appreciation for other collaborations, but this was the first time we saw that real peak,” Brinkworth says. While Lush famously stepped away from social media in 2021, the brand still monitors online activity. Posts and videos about the Katseye partnership, shared by other accounts on TikTok and Instagram, generated over 25 million views, Brinkworth adds.
Lush collaborated with Katseye in 2025 on a limited-edition purple and yellow star bath bomb, as well as six collectible artisan soaps representing each member.
Photos: Courtesy of Lush
Katseye’s partnership with Pandora in 2025—which included a campaign where members brought the Minis charms collection to life through their personal styling and unique stories—was just as successful. A single TikTok video on Pandora’s channel featuring Katseye generated more than 5.2 million views and 377,000 likes, according to Pandora CMO Jennie Farmer. “The pThe partnership really struck a chord with younger shoppers, especially Gen Z, who see jewelry as a way to express who they are and what they stand for,” she says. The collaboration also went beyond digital spaces: Katseye wore custom Pandora pieces during their performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, and later appeared in them on shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in August.
Katseye’s work with Pandora also included a campaign where each member brought the Minis charms collection to life through their own styling and personal stories.
Photo: Courtesy of Pandora
Today, Katseye’s overall reach is still impressive. According to Companion, the analytics platform from the global social and creator agency Billion Dollar Boy, which helped crunch the numbers, the group currently has 9.4 million Instagram followers, with an average of 9.3 million views per post; 14 million YouTube subscribers, with 8.4 million average views per post; and another 20 million TikTok followers, with 5.7 million average views per post. The company notes these numbers are “surprisingly high,” with a “decent amount of content that goes viral.”
The band performed at The 52nd Annual American Music Awards.
Photo: Getty Images
Pressures and public reaction
For many fans, Katseye represented modern girl power with broad appeal. Their formula seemed unbeatable. Then, controversy hit.
In February, Hybe x Geffen announced, with little explanation, that member Manon Bannerman would be taking a hiatus. The news sent fans into a panic. Bannerman, seen by many as the group’s “visual” (meaning her look matched popular global beauty standards), was also the first Black artist to sign with a Hybe label. Her presence marked a shift in K-pop’s boundaries, where Black artists have faced unique pressures, even as their style and sound have been heavily commercialized by the industry over the years.
A wave of drama followed, including a privacy breach that led to unauthorized photos of some members with personal friends being posted online; controversial comments from Daniela Avanzini—and later her father—criticizing other members; and Megan Skiendiel’s possible “finsta” being exposed publicly.
Katseye’s final lineup was revealed during the live finale of The Debut: Dream Academy.
Photo: Getty Images
Katseye’s music has also divided opinions. After debuting in 2024 with melodic tracks like “Touch” and “Debut,” their discography has swung between experimental songs like “Gnarly,” “Pinky Up,” and “Hootie Frutti,” which lean into quirky, meme-like lyrics, and more straightforward pop releases like “Animal” and “Bel Air.” Unsure of Katseye’s core musical identity, listeners often debate whether their bold, internet-driven style is genuinely innovative or just a confusing, manufactured gimmick.
The next major upset came in August, when Hybe x Geffen announced that member Sophia Laforteza would also go on hiatus and miss upcoming promotional activities. Both the management and Laforteza, in a personal Instagram post, said the break was temporary and meant to focus on her health and well-being. Fans were angry again when a video went viral showing only three members at a fan event this month at Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles. (Skiendiel later said on social media that she had taken the day off to recover.) Some observers questioned Katseye’s commitment, while others wondered if the intense promotional schedule and expectations were unrealistic and harmful.
For Grace Kao, IBM professor of sociology and of ethnicity, race, and migration at Yale University, the disruptions happening so quickly were surprising and “worrisome.”
While the debates may bring negative attention, the remaining members still brWith plenty of reach. For example, a post shared on Katseye’s Instagram in August, featuring only four members performing at the Heads in the Clouds music festival in Pasadena, California, got 790,000 likes and a flood of fan support. Similarly, a TikTok video of the four remaining members dancing to their new single “Hootie Frutti” has been viewed over 13 million times and liked by more than two million accounts — numbers that rival or even beat many videos featuring the full original group. While the comments on these videos are mixed, the group’s huge viewership shows fans are still interested. Whether the songs will have lasting appeal, though, is another question.
The life of a pop star
Relationships between famous artists and their fans have always been somewhat parasocial. The rise of social media and platforms like Weverse, which K-pop stars such as BTS and Blackpink use to talk directly with their audiences, has made this connection much stronger. Today, many people feel close to stars because they see their daily lives and seem to interact with them regularly. That sense of closeness has also led to special nicknames for the most dedicated fans: Army for BTS, Blinks for Blackpink, and Eyekons for those who love and support Katseye.
That intimacy, however, can be a double-edged sword, as fans closely watch every move.
Recent actions have led some Katseye fans to wonder if internal tension has hurt the members’ relationships with each other, which could affect the group’s staying power and their appeal to brands. After all, unlike traditional K-pop groups, whose training periods usually last two to four years, with the most extreme cases going up to ten, Katseye’s bond hasn’t been built on years of living and training together. Even K-pop groups like Zerobaseone or Enhypen, who were formed through competition shows, went through extensive training (and therefore time together) before debuting, Kao notes.
There’s also the question of whether some Katseye members will eventually pursue solo careers, with Bannerman’s surprise appearance at the Jacquemus SS27 show on the coast of Corsica in June suggesting to some fans that this might be the case. But that’s not unusual in K-pop. “It happens in many groups, and they are able to survive,” says Kao.
Manon made a solo appearance at the Jacquemus Spring/Summer 2027 show.
Photo: Getty Images
New competition
Katseye’s continued high-profile promotional activities show its ability to adapt and keep momentum for brands. The four remaining members are still set to perform at Olivia Rodrigo’s first all-women Daisy Chain Fields festival in Irvine, California, at the end of August. This month, Katseye has also been releasing limited-edition collections with the fast fashion retailer Primark and Japanese entertainment company Sanrio; designs from the latter partnership will be sold exclusively at Target stores in the US. In September, the group will head out on their first global tour, Wildworld, which will take them to the UK, Europe, and North America.
Experts say there’s little evidence that fans are turning away from Katseye. In August, the group’s following grew 2.45% on Instagram, 8.78% on YouTube, and 6.17% on TikTok, according to Companion. Some marketers also argue that high-stakes online drama can spark intense engagement, which platforms and brands can use to boost desired metrics.
Fans attend a meet and greet hosted by Target.
Photo: Getty Images
Indeed, the same could be said for Katseye’s music. While some fans have mocked the silly lyrics of “Hootie Frutti,” the song had a higher debut reach than “Animal” on major streaming charts on its opening day. Its music video also surpassed 10 million views within 36 hours. Fans are also paying to see Katseye perform, with tickets for their upcoming arena tour selling out within 48 hours of going on sale.
Whether the buzz around Katseye will have any long-term impact on their commercial appeal remains to be seen.However, it remains to be seen. Brinkworth notes that Lush’s partnership with Katseye lasted only six months, which is unusual for the beauty brand—contracts typically run for two years—but he thinks this is typical in the music industry. He explains, “[It’s] generally faster paced and frees the girls to go and do different things and [I assume] not stack up so many partnerships at once.”
Still, the group hasn’t recently attended any fashion week events or signed individual luxury endorsements. It’s unclear whether this is part of Hybe x Geffen’s strategy, or if high-end brands are hesitant due to their unpredictability. In comparison, the K-pop girl group NewJeans each landed luxury ambassador roles within a year of debuting (Minji with Chanel; Hanni with Gucci and Armani Beauty; former member Danielle for Celine and YSL Beauty; Haerin for Dior; and Hyein with Louis Vuitton).
Meanwhile, Hybe x Geffen seem to have already moved on to their next projects: their second global girl group, Saint Satine, is set to debut later this year. This group includes two former Dream Academy contestants, Samara and Emily, along with Sakura, who came from a separate audition. Auditions for a third global girl group under the joint label are also currently being advertised.
K-pop agencies often debut new groups to keep a steady income, protect against existing groups going on hiatus or disbanding, and stay in tune with fast-changing music trends. However, as the global music scene sees a major girl group revival—highlighted by the recent rise of British R&B trio Flo, Japanese pop group XG, and Liverpool-based Girl Group, as well as growing interest in Hybe’s other all-female acts like Illit and Le Sserafim—the timing feels especially right for Katseye. And fans are surely hopeful they’ll get back on track and continue to lead the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of frequently asked questions about Katseye The Business Behind the Brand designed to cover everything from the basics to deeper business insights
Beginner Questions
1 What exactly is Katseye
Katseye is a global pop group formed through a partnership between HYBE and Geffen Records They were created through a Netflix reality show called Dream Academy
2 Is Katseye a Kpop group or a Western group
Neither exactly They are a global group The business model blends Kpop training and production standards with Western music industry marketing and distribution The members come from all over the world and they sing primarily in English
3 What is the business behind the brand mean in this context
It refers to the strategy money and logistics that make Katseye possible This includes how they were funded how they were cast how their music is produced and how they are marketed to fans globally
4 How were the members of Katseye chosen
They were chosen through a rigorous global audition process documented in the Netflix series Dream Academy Thousands of applicants were narrowed down to 20 finalists who trained together in Los Angeles The final six members were selected by a combination of fan votes and the judges scores
5 Why is Katseye considered a unique business model
Traditionally Kpop groups are built by one Korean company and Western groups are built by one American label Katseye is a joint venture meaning two massive companies are sharing the risk the cost and the profits Its a pioneering experiment in true music globalization
Intermediate Questions
6 What is the role of HYBE and Geffen Records in the partnership
HYBE provides the factory system choreography song production music video direction and the intense performance training
Geffen Records provides the retail side distribution radio play streaming playlists US media connections and local marketing
This allows them to operate at the speed of Kpop but with the reach of Western pop
7 How does the group make money
Like most artists they make money through music sales streaming royalties touring and merchandise