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Katseye (pronounced "cat's eye"; stylized in all caps) is a girl group based in Los Angeles. The group is composed of six members: Daniela Avanzini, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia, and Yoonchae. With members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States, Katseye is often described as a "global girl group".
The group was formed through the 2023 reality competition series Dream Academy, a collaboration between Hybe and Geffen Records. The group's formation process was later chronicled in the Netflix docuseries Popstar Academy: Katseye, which recounted the audition process, intensive training, and formation of the group. Katseye debuted in June 2024 with the single "Debut", followed by their breakthrough single, "Touch". They released their first extended play (EP), SIS (Soft Is Strong), later that year. In April 2025, they released "Gnarly" which served as the lead single for their second EP, Beautiful Chaos (2025). Despite receiving mixed reactions on release, the single garnered significant attention and earned the group their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #90. Beautiful Chaos was released on June 27th, 2025 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, their highest-charting release to date. "Gabriela" was released as the EP's second single, peaking at #45 on the Hot 100.
Katseye is recognized for their distinctive fashion identity, prominently drawing influence from Y2K fashion. Their growing brand image has led to multiple endorsements and campaigns tying into the style, including a campaign with the Fendi Baguette and Gap's low-rise denim. Katseye has also worked with British soap company Lush, American fashion house Coach, and Philippine fast food chain Jollibee. Humberto Leon acts as the group's creative director, taking inspiration from broad influences and utilizing the group's diverse backgrounds.
Formal preparations for the group began in November 2021, when Hybe Corporation and Geffen Records launched a worldwide audition process for a girl group with "contestants from around the world", as part of the joint venture Hybe x Geffen Records. With auditions held across South Korea, the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom in 2022, the partnership aimed to create a group that would "transcend national, cultural, and artistic boundaries". In an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily, Hybe founder Bang Si-hyuk expressed his intentions to promote the resultant group to the American market. From more than 120,000 applicants, twenty contestants were selected to participate in the reality competition series The Debut: Dream Academy, which determined the final lineup through a series of performance-based missions. Prior to the series premiere, the contestants were trained for a year in Los Angeles, California, through methods prevalent in the Korean idol trainee system. Premiering on August 19, 2023, the competition concluded on November 18, with Sophia Laforteza, Lara Rajagopalan, Yoonchae Jeung, Megan Skiendiel, Daniela Avanzini, and Manon Bannerman selected as the six members of Katseye.
In June 2024, Hybe confirmed that the release of the group's first EP was set for August that year. For the EP, Katseye collaborated with several songwriters and producers, including Ryan Tedder and Omer Fedi. Two singles preceded its release. The first single, "Debut", was released on June 28, with a music video filmed in Medellín, Colombia, directed by Gregory Ohrel. The single is an upbeat Pop music track that explores themes of confidence and sisterhood in reference to the members' bond as a group. It was met with a lukewarm response commercially, with the music video for the single receiving 2.33 million views in three days, underperforming the viewership of music releases of Korean acts in a similar timeframe. The second single, "Touch", was released on July 26. The Liquid funk R&B track discusses the "complexity of love" and deviates from the sound of "Debut", emphasizing the members' vocals. The single ranked at number 22 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and entered the Billboard Philippines Hot 100 chart. "Touch" attained further success after its choreography went viral as a dance challenge on the video-sharing platform TikTok in September 2024.
The full EP, titled SIS (Soft Is Strong), was released on August 16. With five tracks, the EP debuted at number 119 on the Billboard 200 as Katseye landed atop the Emerging Artists chart. In support of the EP, the group embarked on an Asian tour, which began in South Korea on September 12. Megan would refrain from touring from September 21, owing to her back injury. On November 14, Katseye released "Flame", the theme song for the Netflix animated series Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld.
On March 7, 2025, ahead of the announcement of any new music, Katseye was added to the lineup of Wango Tango, scheduled for May 10. They were then added to the lineup of Lollapalooza in Chicago, scheduled for August 3. Katseye released a new single, "Gnarly", on April 30, which became their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was released as the first single from their second EP, Beautiful Chaos. On June 6, Katseye released a remix of "Gnarly" featuring rapper Ice Spice. On June 20, they released "Gabriela", the EP's second single. The track was accompanied by a music video styled as a telenovela and featured a cameo from actress Jessica Alba. Co-written by Charli XCX, "Gabriela" was described as a contemporary twist on Dolly Parton's "Jolene". On June 27, Beautiful Chaos was released, alongside a music video for the EP's third single, "Gameboy". The EP debuted in the fourth spot of the Billboard 200, their first entry in the top ten of the chart.
In April 2025, Katseye was featured in Fendi's Fendi For Yourself campaign, launched in celebration of the brand's 100th anniversary. The campaign highlighted two of Fendi's most popular handbags, the Baguette and the Peekaboo, both regarded as cultural symbols within the fashion industry. In May, Katseye partnered with Glossier to launch the brand's first lip oil product line titled 'Lip Glaze'. The collaboration featured six tinted oils, each shade corresponding to one of the group's members. In the same month, the group launched a collaboration with Urban Outfitters, where they performed live at the "UO Haul" event in New York on May 20 to showcase their single "Gnarly". Additionally, the group released an exclusive neon blue vinyl record edition of their EP Beautiful Chaos, limited to 3,000 copies, for pre-order through Urban Outfitters. In June of 2025, Katseye partnered with jewelry brand Pandora to release various charms selected by each member to represent individual motifs. In the same month, Katseye partnered with Lush to release a bath bomb and six collectable soaps. In August, they also launched a merchandise collaboration with Philippine fast food chain Jollibee. The next month, the brand released Katseye-themed menu items in its stores in the United States and Canada.
In August 2025, Katseye starred in Gap Fall 2025 denim campaign, dancing to a re-recorded version of Kelis "Milkshake" with original choreography by Robbie Blue. Achieving over 400 million views and 8 billion impressions across platforms in under 2 weeks, Gap CEO Richard Dickson described the campaign as a "cultural takeover", highlighting its unprecedented reach and impact on the brand's own image, with the ad garnering more views in its first three days than the brand's previous four releases combined. The campaign received wide praise for its emphasis on unity and cultural celebration, in contrast to an American Eagle jeans campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney released earlier in the year. While Sweeney's ad faced criticism for allegedly promoting eugenics, Katseye's ad was lauded for its inclusive and empowering message.
Katseye is noted for their distinctive fashion styling, often cited as a defining feature of the group alongside their music. With low-rise jeans, crop tops, and archival pieces, the group draws sartorial influence of late 1990s and early 2000s pop culture, often referred to as Y2K fashion. Katseye's long-term creative director, Humberto Leon, states drawing inspiration from art, film, and history rather than solely musical influences for the group. In particular, the style of celebrities prominent in the early 2000s, such as Devon Aoki for Megan, and Shakira for Daniela, served as key references for the image and appearance of the group's members. "Without Tokenism them", Leon cites the appreciation for the group's diverse backgrounds as a forerunner for their image, often incorporating items such as the bindi for Lara and waist beads for Manon. Members have highlighted the group's identity and openness to these influences, with Manon stating, "I have dreadlocks sometimes. Humberto is always like, 'Yeah, let's do it.' He's always asking if I have new ideas".
| + List of extended plays, showing selected details, selected chart positions, and sales figures ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Details ! scope="col" colspan="9" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Sales | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||
| + List of lead singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, and name of the album ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="10" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Certifications ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album | ||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||||
| + List of featured singles, showing year released, and name of the album ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Album ! scope="col" | |
| + List of soundtracks, showing year released, and name of the album ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Album !Ref. |
| + List of other charted songs, showing year released, selected chart positions, and name of the album ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
| +List of festival performances, showing date, event, location, and performed song(s) | ||
| Lollapalooza Argentina | Buenos Aires | Argentina |
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| Favorite On Screen | Pop Star Academy: Katseye | |||||
| Best Group | Katseye | |||||
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