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Associated Press

The experiment was a remarkable success.
In 2023, South Korean company Hybe Corporation and American record label Geffen Records set out on a quest to create a global girl group. The following year, their process was documented in the Netflix series Popstar Academy: Katseye. That June, Katseye debuted.
This was no ordinary pop act. Members of the multilingual, multinational group – Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung, each known by their first names – have backgrounds in South Korea, the Philippines, Cuba, India, the United States and beyond.
In the year since their first song, “Debut”, dropped, they have reached huge heights: performing at the Lollapalooza music festival; releasing an EP, Beautiful Chaos, which peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200; going super viral for their new Gap campaign; and winning an MTV Video Music Award.


In November, they will embark on their first tour. It is sold out.
“Things have happened very fast recently, but it’s an amazing feeling,” said Lara recently. “When things get wild, we have each other to lean on, which is awesome. And we’re very grateful for that.”
The group spoke about their whirlwind year, representing their home countries, their super viral Gap advertisement and more. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You debuted last summer, and a lot has happened in the time since. Do you feel like veterans?
Sophia: We’re very lucky to experience so much in such a short amount of time in our careers. It’s only been a year. And everything is so fast-paced and moving so quickly. But I feel like we’re still very new to this, and we’re so very fresh and learning so much. Still have a lot of room to learn about different things.

Your Gap ad went super viral – it’s all over my TikTok ‘For You’ page. It feels more like a music video than an advertisement.
Manon: That’s what I loved so much about the Gap campaigns … even way back in the days, they used to have those dancing commercials. And I was so excited when our team told us we would do it, because I was like, “Oh, this is about to hit.”
Sophia: The Gap campaign truly is something that we, as Katseye, truly align with. It’s all about confidence, inclusivity and expression. And to see its impact, and to see our pure intentions as a group and what we stand for and what we want to give out to the world, like really happen, it’s really beautiful to see.
In the first three days, there were 400 million total views and 8 billion total impressions, according to Gap.
Megan: Isn’t there only 7 billion people in the world?
Sophia: Aliens are watching our Gap campaign, everybody! Animals, or pets … my dog watched it.

When something like that happens, does it change the way you think about your next steps?
Sophia: It motivates us more to continue to do what we want to do, because it’s the proof of our impact. It’s proof that we can make something out of what we love to do, and what our purpose is as musicians and as artists with an influence.
Manon: People want to see diversity. People want to see themselves represented on TV, on billboards. And I really hope that people high up see that and see that it works and implement that.
Lara: We’ve all, growing up, had to tell ourselves, “OK, if we’re not going to see that, if other people aren’t going to do it for us, and represent us, we have to be the ones to do it.”
Sophia: Our goal is to truly break barriers for those who look like us, those who have the same personality, the same upbringing.

Are there inherent pressures in doing that?
Lara: Totally. 100 per cent. I feel like it’s an honour more than anything else: “Wow, I get to be the one.”
I want to talk about ‘Gnarly’. You must’ve known that song was going to polarise.
Manon: The very first day it dropped, I’m not even going to lie, I was texting the group chat and I was like, “Is it over? Are we over?” Because no one liked it. But then a week later…
Daniela: A couple of days later! Literally like two days…
It changed, and everyone loved it. And then you hit them with ‘Gabriela’ and ‘Gameboy’. Something completely different.
Manon: We want to keep doing that. We don’t want to give our fans the same song we imagine over and over.


What’s your relationship with Popstar Academy like now that it has been over a year?
Sophia: Watching it, I felt I was transported to that moment and relived the moments, but also saw it from a different perspective, so it kind of brought different feelings to the surface. And it was a very interesting experience. It was our experience curated in a way that wasn’t controlled by us … it took time for us to accept that that’s what was brought into the world.
Lara: There is a lot of beauty to the documentary … every time I see that, I’m like, wow, here’s this version of myself before our lives blew up … that’s beautiful and also really sad and intense to look at, like, it’s just a very nuanced, very grey-area feeling surrounding that documentary.
Manon: What I’m grateful for is that it toughened us up a bit and gave us thick skin.

So, what’s next for Katseye? What are you hungry for?
Lara: I’m hungry for a world tour in our countries. Like seriously, I want to perform in India so, so bad … I really want to take the girls to where my family’s from in India. I’m hungry for that. And obviously headlining Coachella.
Megan: I’m hungry for awards.
Lara: You know what else I’m hungry for is a vision, some sort of creative direction where we can get like really weird and ugly in a way … as women, we always have to be so pretty. … I really want us to get ugly, nitty-gritty.
Lara: My favourite artists are, like, so raw at the camera … I see their true emotions.
Sophia: Rage.
Lara: I see their rage, and like, when they’re not so done up. I really want us to show that, and I think we’ll show that when the time is right.


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Music

Girl group Katseye on their viral Gap ad, Gnarly, diversity and more after a crazy year

Girl group Katseye reflect on a whirlwind year since their debut and where they see their next steps taking them. Photo: AP

(From left): Sophia Laforteza, Megan Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman, Yoonchae Jeung, Daniela Avanzini and Lara Raj of Katseye pose for a photo in Los Angeles on September 3, 2025. Photo: AP

Katseye won the MTV push performance of the year award for “Touch” at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo: Reuters

Katseye attend a Pandora collection launch on September 8, 2025, in New York. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

In November, Katseye will embark on their first tour. Photo: AP

How Shu Qi drew on her painful childhood for Girl, her directorial debut

Chinese actress turned director Shu Qi attends the 82nd International Venice Film Festival, where her directorial debut Girl played in competition, on September 4, 2025. Photo: AFP

Shu Qi in a still from Resurrection, an ambitious sci-fi drama directed by Bi Gan. Photo: He Ruiqiong

(From left): Girl’s Roy Chiu, Joanne Tang, Shu Qi and Bai Xiaoying at the photocall for the film at the 82nd International Venice Film Festival on September 4, 2025. Photo: AFP

Shu Qi plays the enigmatic assassin Nie Yinniang in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Tang dynasty-set wuxia film The Assassin (2015).

Director Hou Hsiao-hsien and Shu Qi at the Asian Film Awards presentation ceremony in 2008. Photo: SCMP

Leslie Cheung and Shu Qi in a still from Viva Erotica (1996). Photo: SCMP

Shu Qi (left) and Ge You in a still from If You Are the One (2008), directed by Feng Xiaogang. Photo: SCMP

A still from Girl, Shu Qi’s directorial debut. Photo: Mandarin Vision

Angelica Lee Sinje (left) and Shu Qi in a still from the drama series The Resurrected. Photo: Netflix

Shu at a photocall at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Photo: Reuters

Why KPop Demon Hunters director is so keen to promote Korean culture

From left: Mira, Rumi and Zoey in a screen grab from KPop Demon Hunters. Photo: AP

Director Maggie Kang created and co-directed Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, which has become the most-watched animated feature on the streaming platform. Photo: AFP

A still from KPop Demon Hunters. Photo: AP

Kang (centre) talks at a press conference for KPop Demon Hunters, in Seoul, South Korea.

Jackie Chan and JJ Lin’s new single ‘Skibidi’ baffles the internet

Jackie Chan (left) and JJ Lin appear in a post on Lin’s Instagram account with the message: “Let’s drop the beat! A dream come true - my lifelong hero @jackiechan and I join forces on our new track Skibidi, releasing August 29 at midnight.” Photo: Instagram/jjlin

Jackie Chan sings on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 13th Beijing International Film Festival on April 21, 2023. Photo: AFP

1980s Hong Kong pop idol Danny Chan’s bittersweet success story: his talent, fame, the tabloid rumours, his retirement and early death

Singer Danny Chan Pak-keung puts one of his albums in a time capsule in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Danny Chan was one of Hong Hong’s “Three Kings and A Queen of Cantopop” in the 1980s, with fellow idols Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. Photo: SCMP

Yvonne Siu, project manager of TVB, presents a souvenir to Danny Chan in 1984. Photo: SCMP

Chan singing at his own birthday party in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chan (left) and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau at the Top Ten Pop Stars Election in 1987. Photo: SCMP

There were numerous rumours about a relationship between Pansy Ho and Chan. Photo: Weibo

Chan performing at a concert to promote Aids awareness in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Chan was taken to Queen Mary Hospital after collapsing at home on May 19, 1992. Photo: SCMP

Flanked by singer Anita Mui Yim-fong and actor Chow Yun-fat, Danny Chan’s older brother Chan Pak-ling carries his younger brother’s picture at the singer’s funeral in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Lifestyle

Culture

Katseye reflect on a whirlwind year since their debut, from their coming together on a Netflix show to their current viral fame with Gap


Katseye reflect on a whirlwind year since their debut, from their coming together on a Netflix show to their current viral fame with Gap.


Girl group Katseye on their viral Gap ad, Gnarly, diversity and more after a crazy year

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Katseye reflect on a whirlwind year since their debut, from their coming together on a Netflix show to their current viral fame with Gap

Katseye reflect on a whirlwind year since their debut, from their coming together on a Netflix show to their current viral fame with Gap