Photo Credits: Marie Claire Korea + Roger Vivier + JYP Entertainment
The Quiet Power of Poise
In the first moments of Marie Claire Korea’s March 2026 pictorial preview, Yeji doesn’t need to speak. Her gaze carries its own melody—sharp, luminous, and almost cinematic in its quiet confidence. Wearing Roger Vivier’s sculptural heels against minimalist backdrops, she embodies a new kind of chic: one born from rhythm, rebellion, and grace intertwined.
ITZY’s leader has always been more than choreography. She’s a storyteller through motion—someone who understood early that charisma isn’t performed, it’s lived. Now, in this exclusive collaboration, Yeji steps into an era where fashion becomes an echo of the self she’s been fearless enough to create.
From Rookie Fire to Refined Flame
When ITZY debuted in 2019, the industry felt the tremor. Their anthem “DALLA DALLA” arrived as a battle cry of self-love in glossy technicolor, setting a new standard for Gen Z empowerment in K-pop. Over the years, Yeji’s role as the group’s leader has evolved with striking maturity—her stage presence mixing athletic precision with emotional transparency.
Albums like Crazy in Love and BORN TO BE showcased layers of vulnerability within ITZY’s sonic identity. Each release carried an unspoken question: what does it mean for young women to claim both lightness and strength, rebellion and refinement? Yeji has often been the one bridging those worlds with her body language alone—sharp, fluid, and defiantly human.
Fashion as a Second Stage
The Marie Claire Korea x Roger Vivier pictorial marks another step in Yeji’s quiet transformation. Known for the luxury house’s romantic Parisian aesthetic, Roger Vivier finds in Yeji a modern muse—one who pairs their classic silhouettes with a kinetic kind of electricity.
Styled in pearl-adorned pumps, sleek tailored jackets, and subtle metallic tones, Yeji reflects the conversation between heritage and futurism that defines both K-pop and couture right now. It’s an elegant subversion: the fierce performer who built her legend through motion now mastering the stillness of editorial form.
Her expression—calm but unreadable—tells a different story of confidence, one rooted not in spectacle but in precision. The styling draws from ITZY’s strong graphic history—minimalism cut by bold accessories, every frame whispering luxury seasoned with nerve.
“Yeji has a presence that doesn’t need volume,” noted one stylist on set. “Even in silence, she moves the frame.”
The Cinematic Language of ITZY
If K-pop is the world’s most dynamic language, ITZY speaks in sharp syllables of rhythm and self-definition. The group’s creative direction has always functioned like cinema—vivid lighting, agile narrative arcs, choreography that reads like punctuation.
Yeji often anchors these moments, channeling both the athlete and the actress. From the feral energy of WANNABE to the sweeping confidence in UNTOUCHABLE (2024), her ability to shift between defiance and softness has become ITZY’s visual DNA.
That same storytelling instinct translates effortlessly into fashion imagery. Each close-up from this Marie Claire Korea collaboration relies on expression and attitude more than adornment. It’s a study in restraint—proof that Yeji’s magnetism lies in presence, not performance.
Global Fandom, Local Identity
As ITZY continues its world tours and partnerships, Yeji has grown into a bridge between East and West—a visual polyglot fluent in both Seoul street energy and Parisian couture poise. Roger Vivier’s Paris-rooted craftsmanship finds new resonance in her: global sensibility filtered through Korean youth culture’s intensity.
For fans, this photoshoot hits differently. It’s not just a magazine spread; it’s a visual diary entry from an artist navigating maturity in the spotlight. MyMidzy, the fandom beating heart of ITZY’s longevity, praises Yeji for being “strong without needing to prove it.”
Their comments under each image preview say it all: “She’s elegance in motion. Every glance feels like choreography.”
Creative Evolution: A Leader’s Ritual
Behind the polish, Yeji remains grounded. Known among peers for her discipline—hours of practice, quiet leadership, and meticulous attention to stage craft—she treats every shoot, song, and performance as part of a larger ritual of self-creation.
This upcoming Marie Claire Korea feature arrives between ITZY’s ongoing Asia tour and rumored next project, marking that familiar cycle of reinvention. Like the Roger Vivier shoes she wears, Yeji’s trajectory walks a line between familiarity and flight.
There is power in how she pauses mid-movement, how her posture speaks even when words don’t. Through fashion, Yeji seems to invite a rethinking of perfection—not as control, but as centeredness.
“Every concept, every look—it’s not just a role. It’s another version of me that’s been waiting to move,” Yeji shared in a behind-the-scenes interview
The Visual Thesis of Yeji
What this pictorial unveils is more than collaboration—it’s a visual thesis. It argues that K-pop can dialogue fluently with haute couture, that modern femininity lives somewhere between clarity and propulsion.
Yeji’s photographs feel sculptural not because they freeze motion, but because they distill it. She reminds the audience why K-pop idols have become fashion’s most compelling muses: because they understand narrative through performance, structure through rhythm.
Each shot in this preview captures that truth—a woman narrating her era not through noise, but through nuance.
Looking Ahead: ITZY’s New Season
As ITZY enters its next chapter, the meaning of “self-expression” continues to deepen. The group’s synergy—five powerful yet distinct identities creating controlled chaos—remains their greatest weapon.
Yeji, at its helm, redefines what leadership in K-pop can look like: collaborative, expressive, quietly resolute. Her presence in Marie Claire Korea foreshadows a maturing sound and vision for ITZY itself—one less about proving energy, more about articulating emotion.
If their past was a sprint, this season feels like a glide—measured, poised, unstoppable.
Closing Echo
In this 2026 chapter, Yeji’s artistry feels like a mirror—reflecting every moment ITZY has stood for self-definition, while hinting at the grace of what’s yet to come.
K-pop moves fast, but icons like her move with intention. And it’s that quiet, articulated power—captured now in satin shadows and Roger Vivier heels—that makes Yeji not just a performer, but a living portrait of her generation’s evolving strength.