In Part 1 of our KATSEYE series, we rewind to where it all began — the auditions, the hype, and the bold vision behind HYBE and Geffen Records’s global girl group experiment. With trainees from all over the world and the weight of K-pop’s global reputation on their shoulders, KATSEYE wasn’t just built to perform — they were built to prove a point.

We unpack how this project aimed to rewrite the K-pop playbook, why the industry (and fans) were watching so closely, and what this could mean for the future of truly global idols.