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IVE member Gaeul’s red carpet look at The Fact Music Awards 2022 raised multiple eyebrows about the stylists’ absurd choice. The six-member group looked stunning in black outfits, but the 20-year-old’s strut on stage in a pair of shoes at least twice as big as her feet caught instant attention.
On October 8, the After LIKE singers earned one of their biggest achievements on the night of The Fact Music Awards 2022. They won the Artist of the Year (Bonsang) and Next Leader awards. However, the night was marred by discussions around the styling choices of one of the group’s members, Gaeul.
Standing at 5’ 3’’, Gaeul is one of the shortest members of the LOVE DIVE group. She became the focal point as fans saw the idol trying to maintain her cool composure in visibly extra-large black heels.
“Stylists did her so dirty”: K-pop fans react to IVE's Gaeul wearing extra large heels
Rookie girl group IVE is at the center of discussions yet again due to styling issues. The reigning fourth-generation girl group’s have often faced ire for styling and management issues. The latest issue in the lot even led non-fans to talk about how “dirty” the stylists treated Gaeul.
Gaeul, 20, was captured walking uncomfortably at The Fact Music Awards 2022 on October 8. Upon observing it closely, fans saw that she was given a pair of heels that were at least twice the size of her feet. People soon began discussing that it was “lazy” and criticized the stylists. The particular clip has already garnered 1.6 million views on Twitter.
The discourse led to others suggesting that IVE might be wearing sponsored, branded clothes. Their reasoning was that it must have been difficult for the brand and the staff to get heels of her size.
However, the majority of fans did not buy the reasoning. Some even raised questions about why Wonyoung and Yujin, the two most popular and tallest members, were each given heels.
Many even pointed out that the 20-year-old could have tripped and hurt herself. Others jokingly commented that she looked like their younger self when they would wear their mother’s heels.
Aside from the heels fiasco, another incident at The Fact Music Awards riled up the fandom. IVE was performing After LIKE on stage for the offline audience, but the performance was cut short abruptly by a staff member. The show was being live streamed to international fans, where they played pre-recordings of performances. However, the ground reality shocked many fans.
A staff member arrived on stage and asked the girls to get backstage. Even before the members went off stage, the stage’s lights switched off.
Meanwhile, they were not the only group to receive disrespectful treatment. YG Entertainment’s TREASURE also experienced similar tough luck.
IVE’s Next Leader and Artist of the Year wins at TFMA has confirmed K-pop fandom’s predictions of coming out as one of the strongest fourth-generation girl groups of 2022. It will be interesting to see how the After LIKE girl group fares at the MMA and MAMA daesangs.
