KATSEYE is a six-member global girl group based in Los Angeles, formed through a joint venture between HYBE and Geffen Records. With members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States, they're often described as a "global girl group". The group was built to bridge K-pop's training and performance standards with Western pop music and culture.
The Name
The name comes from the cat's eye gemstone, which shifts colors depending on the angle of light — the idea being that each member brings something different, but together they make up one thing. The spelling with a "K" instead of a "C" was actually Lara's idea, just to make it look cooler.
The Fandom
Fans go by EYEKONS — a mix of "eye" from KATSEYE and the word "icon."
The Aesthetic
KATSEYE's style leans heavily into Y2K fashion — think low-rise jeans, crop tops, and vintage pieces. Wikipedia Their creative director, Humberto Leon, has said the group's visual direction pulls from art, film, and history more than music trends. Members have individual style references too — Devon Aoki for Megan and Shakira for Daniela, for example.
The Sound
Their music doesn't stay in one lane. Across their two EPs they've done upbeat dance-pop, drum and bass R&B, hyperpop, and Latin-influenced tracks. They've cited The Pussycat Dolls, Spice Girls, and LE SSERAFIM as influences.
HYBE and Geffen Records teamed up in 2021 with the goal of forming a global girl group trained using K-pop methods but aimed at the Western market. To find the members, they ran a reality competition called The Debut: Dream Academy. Over 120,000 people applied. Twenty were selected, trained for a year in Los Angeles, and then competed through a series of performance missions.
The show ran from August to November 2023, and when it was over, six members were announced: Sophia, Lara, Yoonchae, Megan, Daniela, and Manon. The whole process was later documented in the Netflix series Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, which dropped in August 2024 if you want the full behind-the-scenes look.
KATSEYE released their first single, "Debut," on June 28, 2024 — a dance-pop track about confidence and the bond between the members, with a music video shot in Medellín, Colombia. Their follow-up single, "Touch," came out a month later and ended up being the one that really caught on. The choreography went viral as a TikTok dance challenge in September 2024.
Their debut EP, SIS (Soft Is Strong), came out in August 2024, with production credits including Ryan Tedder and Omer Fedi. It landed on the Billboard 200 and introduced a lot of people to the group for the first time.
In 2025, KATSEYE released their second EP. Beautiful Chaos debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, their best chart performance yet. Lead single "Gnarly" gave them their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. They also performed at Lollapalooza festivals across South America, attended the Grammys, and have been steadily picking up festival slots and brand partnerships along the way.