Thread by @giveupdontup

🧵 The big thread about what kind of copying Min Heejin’s and her team were talking about

First, I want to say that NJ has always been about homage. It's a respectful nod to the iconic aesthetic of Y2K, the pop culture of the 2000s. They take one recognizable detail, rework it through their unique filter, and something nostalgic is born. It's a dialogue with the era

What HYBE is doing with il-t It's a systematic replication of the stylistic code that MHJ and ADOR have built for NJ over several years. This isn't a single detail it's an entire pattern, a set of visual, choreographic, and musical recipes, assembled into a recognizable brand

NewJeans: Their world is a reimagined Y2K. Not a literal replication of the 2000s, but rather a nostalgia for them, filtered through the purity, lightness, and digital aesthetics of the 2020s. It's "a future that remembers the past"

ILLIT: They don't take the Y2K era itself, but rather the NewJeans interpretation. They don't have their own "filter." Their aesthetic is a direct result of the formula: (Y2K + pastel palette + "digital" feel) = NewJeans style

The very concept of "naturalness" is being copied. The same clothing styles (coquette-core, streetwear), the same relaxed, "non-posing" poses. This isn't a general trend, but rather a copying of the behavioral pattern created by NewJeans

There are no two identical groups in one corporation‼️

SM deliberately creates groups with radically different concepts to reach different audiences and avoid cannibalization: Girls' Generation ≠ f(x) ≠ Red Velvet ≠ aespa. HYBE (previously): BTS, TXT, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans each had a distinct, unique style and audience

BabyMonster vs. BLACKPINK (YG Entertainment) BLACKPINK reigned supreme for 7+ years, becoming the benchmark for girl crush. And after that, BM debuted, also with a girl crush concept

There's room in an industry for many stars, as long as each shines brightly. The problem arises when one company tries to replace one of its stars with a near-identical copy, not giving the new one the chance to shine with its own unique light

That's the difference between competition and cannibalism

What we're seeing isn't just random coincidences in trends. We're seeing a systematic transfer of style code from one group to another within a single corporation

People said : “But New Jeans also borrowed Y2K, the school concept, retro!”

It's true. But the genius of Mini Heejin and ADOR lies not in the ideas themselves, but in the signature filter through which these ideas are filtered. NewJeans don't "own" trends they translate them into their own unique visual language

The essence of their style is "easy listening for the eyes":They take any topic, even complex or dark ones (hospitals, nostalgia), and transform it into something airy, pleasant, pastel, but with a touch of melancholy.Their world is not prickly, it's a place you want to return to

ILLIT — They didn't take the original concepts (Y2K or Dream core, retro), but the finished result of the NewJeans filter that same pastel, "faded", digitally casual aesthetic

So, the debate isn't about the "right" to Y2K or pastel colors. It's about the right to a unique creative style. NewJeans created its own visual language

The fact that their own company allows another group to speak this almost identical language isn't about advancing the industry, but rather about its impoverishment and disrespect for the creator

Many reduce this debate to childish questions of "who wore pastels first" or "wings are a general trend." And in doing so, they completely distort the essence of the matter

The essence isn't in individual elements. The essence is in the systematic replication of the brand's atmosphere, mood, and DNA

Why is this so difficult to prove and so easy to deny? Because "imitating atmosphere" is an abstract concept. It can't be measured with a ruler. It can only be felt and analyzed by understanding how brands, visual communications, and design are built

A simple analogy: Imagine NewJeans as not just a group, but a unique perfume. they has:

Top notes (details): Pastel, wings, headphones.
Heart (atmosphere): Nostalgia, casualness, digital warmth, teenage melancholy.
Base (brand DNA): The "easy listening for the eyes" philosophy, a reimagining of memory, purity

You can copy the top notes. But if you also copy the heart and base, you've created a copycat perfume, even if you name it differently

This is what happened with ILLIT. It wasn't just a "Y2K palette" that was copied, but the entire sensory universe that ADOR had been building for years for NewJeans. This is evident in the intersection

1. Stylistic codes (palette + graphics + pose type)
2. Emotional mood (light nostalgia mixed with the digital present).
3. Behavioral pattern ("natural," relaxed delivery)
4. Musical and choreographic packaging (sticky loops, simplicity)

This is precisely why the dispute goes beyond fandom wars. It's now a question of corporate ethics, intellectual property, and respect for the work of creative directors

Is it permissible, within a single corporation, to take a successful creative product from one subsidiary (ADOR), systematically dismantle it into its component parts, and transfer these developments to another subsidiary (BELIFT) to create a competing product?

While one side speaks in the language of details (“it’s just a hanboks!”), the other speaks in the language of the brand’s architecture (“you copied the foundation of our house”)

They're trying to portray this whole situation as the owner's hysteria, screaming, "It's mine!" This is the main distortion

Min Heejin didn't demand sole ownership of pastel colors or Y2K aesthetics. Her key thesis, voiced back at that press conference, was about corporate and creative hygiene

She put it simply: every artist and label within a large corporation should have its own distinct, unique creative palette

What did HYBE/BELIFT do with ILLIT? They ignored this principle. Instead of giving the new band their own distinct palette (for example, dark fantasy, neon cyberpunk, acoustic minimalism), they took the established, successful ADOR palette and started painting with it

NewJeans don't own everything, but they were the only gg group in HYBE that had their own palette that HYBE gave to ILLIT.