Recently, it has come to light that the K-pop girl group NewJeans is embroiled in controversy over allegedly copying the Mexican girl group Jeans from the 1990s.

The Mexican newspaper El Siglo reported last January that similarities between the two groups suggest that NewJeans may have drawn inspiration from Jeans.

The report highlights visual similarities in the outfits and hairstyles of both groups, suggesting that NewJeans, a newcomer to the K-pop scene, might have been influenced by Jeans, which enjoyed significant popularity in Mexico during the 90s.

El Siglo noted that not only the group names but also promotional images bear resemblances, sparking discussions among fans on social media platforms like Facebook, now known as Meta.

Jeans, which debuted in 1995 and was active until 2008, reformed in 2015 and currently performs under the name JNS. The issue of similarity between the two groups has also been pointed out on domestic online communities, where users have noted parallels in choreography and visual concepts.

This controversy follows previous claims by Min Hee-jin, a representative from HYBE, alleging that another rookie girl group, ILLIT, had copied the costumes and hairstyles of NewJeans, pointing to a pattern of recurring issues around originality and influence in pop group styling.