HYBE Girl Group’s “2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon” Red Carpet Appearance Met With Furious Response

On December 25, KST, the 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon took place at the Inspire Arena in Incheon, South Korea.

The event boasted a star-studded lineup, with the biggest names of K-Pop in attendance, including the likes of aespa, ENHYPEN, IVE, NMIXX, LE SSERAFIM, &TEAM, and Stray Kids, among others. HYBE‘s youngest K-Pop girl group, ILLIT, was also among the attendees.

ILLIT’s red carpet appearance at the red carpet before the main event has sparked a heated discussion on Korean forums. In particular, netizens pointed out that the group’s styling for the red carpet was unusual, with all four of them wearing short dresses adorned with frills and bows, along with other costume-like details. One viral post on Nate Pann called the styling “tacky,” noting that they looked like Japanese idols.

The comments under the post also seemed to agree, questioning why a major company like HYBE couldn’t hire better stylists for the group.

• “Is that the best they can do? They look like some underground idol group.”
• “Who did their wigs? The aesthetics are so tacky.”
• “It does look f*cking cheap.”
• “Didn’t they always have an otaku-style TikTok concept?”
• “This is strange.”