“Seven years… that really was a long time ago. Compared to then, I think I’ve been living both similarly and differently. I’m still making music, still continuing projects with CHANEL. But as time passed, I grew, and within changing environments I’ve been learning how to find my own balance in a more flexible way. Meeting again after such a long time and shooting together like this makes it feel even more special.”

Similarly, yet differently. She still does the same things. Makes music, steps onstage, wears CHANEL, stands in front of cameras. But the method has changed. If the Jennie of the past executed the scene given to her with precision, the Jennie of now decides the direction of the scene herself. From performer to decision maker. Same place, different weight.

“I think the positive responses came from always doing my best within the moments and opportunities given to me, and from constantly thinking deeply about every step. Even now, whenever I take on something new, I still feel excited and nervous. But if there’s one thing that’s changed compared to before, it’s that I naturally feel more aware that the choices I make and the stories I tell can influence a lot of people.”

If 2018’s SOLO was a declaration, then 2025’s Ruby feels like the sentence that follows. It no longer ends at “I can do this alone,” but instead asks what can be created from being alone. I don’t think Jennie’s identity as a solo artist can be judged by musical perfection alone. I’m more interested in how she continuously rearranges herself. Jennie never tries to become a completely different person overnight. Instead, she rearranges the fragments of “Jennie” we already know. The sharpness of the rapper, the temperature of the vocalist, the body of the pop star, the visual language of the fashion icon, the gestures that either respond to or betray the “Jennie-ness” the public expects from her.

“I think my identity as an artist becomes the clearest when I’m working on music or standing on stage. In the end, my emotions and identity are directly embedded in my music, so those moments feel closest to who I really am.”

Public expectation and Jennie’s own desires cannot always move in the same direction. Jennie moves toward whatever holds her most clearly.

“Hmm… as just another human being, I think I keep discovering new goals that I truly want to pursue and feel I should pursue. The direction and values I follow can sometimes seem challenging or provocative to people, but over time there are moments when fans come to understand and respect the real meaning behind them. I think those things eventually remain as my own iconic qualities. So these days, rather than trying to satisfy every gaze directed at me, I try to focus first on what truly matters to me and trust that direction more.”

What seems important to Jennie now are her own principles. Which sounds deserve her voice. Which moments deserve exposure, and which require retreat. The instinct to decide what to do and what not to do. Jennie does not completely reject the countless external systems that shape her. The global pop market, the K-pop system, fandom culture, social media, public attention, the gaze of the media. Jennie exists inside all of it. She simply adjusts the proportions on her own terms.

Saturday, May 2. Another shoot day. This time in New York City. Jennie brought us into this enormous city. It’s my first time in New York. Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo. I’ve rushed in and out of those cities as casually as crossing from Seongsu to Apgujeong in Seoul, but somehow New York was the one place I had never been. Everything here feels exaggeratedly large and endless, to the point where I imagined if I died alone here, nobody would even discover it for the next hundred years. Even the voltage and measurement belong to a different world, yet the view outside my Manhattan hotel somehow resembles a street in Gangnam. Why?

“It’s not exactly the same, but I think New York has similarities to Seoul. The busy people, the strangely familiar noise, even the traffic.(laughs) Maybe that’s why New York feels unfamiliar yet oddly comfortable to me at the same time. But it also has a freer energy and atmosphere that’s different from Seoul, so every visit feels new.”

Just then, photographer Zoey Grossman arrived straight from Los Angeles at the Williamsburg studio, bringing with her warm hugs and endless chatter like California oranges soaked in sunlight. Stylist Sam Woolf, hair artist Olivier Schawalder, makeup artist Won Joyeon, and nail artist Zola Ganzorigt soon gathered too. Staff members of different nationalities, backgrounds, and sensitivities filled the set with bustling noise.

It suddenly struck me. The pleasant stress that comes from collaborating with strangers, something I had casually overlooked for years under the excuses of experience and busyness. Even though languages I didn’t understand flew around me, somehow I was still moving forward on instinct alone. Jennie’s recent working style feels similar. Less comfort, more unfamiliarity.

“After experiencing different environments and ways of working, I’ve realized that better results come when I actively lead the direction and build chemistry with the people around me. Rather than insisting on familiar environments, exchanging energy with unfamiliar people has become a much healthier stimulation for me too.”

Jennie stood in front of the camera wearing CHANEL’s 2026 Métiers d’Art collection, first shown on the New York subway. Clothes flown in from Seoul, New York, and Paris. The shoot deck title read: “5! Shades! Brilliance! Kim! Jennie!” Jennie lightly bounced out of the dressing room. She tosses her hair, twists her waist. One moment she smiles softly, the next staring sharply enough to pierce. Different faces within one person.

Ahead of the show, CHANEL artistic director Matthieu Blazy said

“The New York subway belongs to all. Everyone uses it: there are students and gamechangers; statesmen and teenagers,’ Blazy said in a statement distributed after the show. ‘It is a place full of enigmatic yet wonderful encounters, a clash of pop archetypes, where everyone has somewhere to go and each is unique in what they wear. Like in the movies, they are the heroes of their own stories.”

The subway is a democratic space. Constantly moving, constantly becoming something else. The collection unfolds like a film filled with different characters. If Jennie were not ‘JENNIE’, who would she become? What face would she wear stepping onto the subway? When a person who has become a symbol refuses to remain only a symbol, that is an act of will.

“Of course I watched the New York show. I loved seeing all the different characters, but among them I think I’d want to be the ordinary person from the first look, casually enjoying everyday life on the New York subway. Maybe it’s because of my job.(laughs) Rather than someone with special powers, I’m more drawn to people who naturally exist within the city.”

Ordinariness. For Jennie, perhaps ordinariness is not a lack, but a desire. When someone standing in such an extraordinary place speaks about ordinary scenes, the words sound different. Riding the New York subway, blending into crowds, moving through daily life without any special abilities. I strangely love that the image Jennie dreams of while wearing CHANEL is not necessarily a bigger stage or greater success. And yet, reading Jennie through the language of fashion feels unavoidable. The clothes she wears are not just a celebrity gossip. They are scenes showing how a pop star constructs her image, how she translates the symbols of a massive luxury house into something contemporary. At the center of that sits CHANEL. The way Jennie wears CHANEL goes beyond the posture of a muse. She wears it, but never becomes subordinate to it. The moment Jennie appears, CHANEL takes on a newly contemporary face.

“CHANEL is still the best brand to me. The fact that we’ve continued this relationship for such a long time still feels incredibly special. In the beginning, it felt more like a process of receiving and understanding CHANEL’s symbols and stories. But now my understanding of CHANEL has deepened, and I think I’ve reached a point where I can naturally interpret and express it in my own way. That evolution feels really meaningful and exciting to me.”

Now, Jennie’s CHANEL moves more. It becomes lighter. Closer to the street.

“I really love the CHANEL that Matthieu Blazy is leading right now. I don’t know if I’m even able to say this, but it feels like the identity and atmosphere of CHANEL remain intact while expanding in ways people can naturally connect with and enjoy. The CHANEL of before felt a little more classic and symbolic, whereas now it feels much freer and more grounded in reality!”

In May, those clothes arrive in Seoul. The CHANEL 2026 Métiers d’Art collection, which began on the New York subway, returns in Seoul. Clothes made in Paris, passing through New York, arriving in Seoul. Somehow, that route suited Jennie perfectly. A person who keeps moving through cities.

“As I’ve mentioned in other interviews, I think the Han River in Seoul is such a beautiful place. Especially in May, at sunset, it feels truly special. Even just taking a walk or quietly looking at the scenery makes me feel calm and inspired. As an ambassador, of course I’ll be attending the CHANEL Métiers d’Art show in Seoul and helping make the moment shine.(laughs) Since it’s such a meaningful show happening in Korea after such a long time, we’re preparing some extra special and fun moments too.”

“Seoul. May. See you there.”

I still read Jennie by guesswork, as if knowing her well could make up for not knowing her enough. It is the most exhausting, and most precious, part of my work. There is always a part of Jennie that slips out of reach. Familiar, yet foreign. Belonging to the public, yet finally, irreducibly private. She is not loved for perfect goodness or easy transparency. She can be cold, sensitive, sometimes wearing a face too easily misunderstood. That is Jennie. Lovable, but never safe. Beautiful, but never obedient. As if born to be loved, yet unwilling to surrender the terms of that love.

“I’ve always had very clear goals and strong belief in myself, so I don’t think I’ve ever felt like my true self had faded away. Of course there are moments when I feel shaken or conflicted amid all the attention and different opinions, but in the end I think the most important thing is knowing clearly who I am and what I genuinely like. So rather than being swayed by outside noise, I try to focus more on my own emotions and standards.”

Jennie, with a cropped Superman knit top, leaves the studio with a small greeting peeking out beneath her sunglasses. The footsteps of someone who has just finished a short but powerful performance. Back in Seoul, I look at Jennie’s face in the photographs we brought home from New York. I keep looking. It’s a face I know, yet somehow don’t know at all. I like that face. The face of someone who knows too much. The face of someone still walking forward.

director & text MILKY
editor GEEMEE
fashion SAM WOOLF
photography ZOEY GROSSMAN
film KEEN
art SUMMER
hair OLIVIER SCHAWALDER
make-up WON JOYEON
nail ZOLA GANZORIGT
set HEATH MATTIOLI
set assistant LAYLA STOVER, JOHN CARCIETTA
production PARK INYOUNG, HEATHER LEE at VISUAL PARK