On May 25th, Jeans members Angie Taddei, Melissa López and Regina Murguía uploaded a TikTok video, saying “We’re very surprised to see the beautiful concept of the 1990s being brought back in Korea”, adding “A lot of love for you guys and congratulations, NewJeans.”
They continued, “It’s amazing to see you guys using the concept of the 1990s as a reference. That’s so cool. It would be so nice if you call us and we can collaborate”.
Mexican group Jeans debuted in 1996 and promoted until 2008. In 2015, they changed their group’s name to JNS and have been active until now.
The reason Jeans suddenly gained attention was that some netizens raised suspicions that the Korean girl group NewJeans plagiarized Jeans with evidence such as both having ‘Jeans’ in their group names, similarities in logo fonts, their vibe and concepts in choreographies and outfits, etc.
However, fans have refuted the plagiarism claims strongly. They argued that Jeans was active in the 1990s, while NewJeans’s main concept is retro culture with inspiration from both contemporary and Y2K eras. When NewJeans debuted, they already used the fonts, images, and elements popular on mobile phone screens in the early 2000s. Even the group’s communication app Phoning also maintains a retro concept similar to the chat apps in the 2000s.
Along with the newtro (new+retro) trend sweeping fashion and pop culture, NewJeans’s strategy was successful. This promotional method has helped the group attract explosive responses from both the older generations as well as teenagers and people in their 20s of this era.
While NewJeans is being surrounded by plagiarism allegations, Jeans stepped forward to express excitement to see NewJeans bringing back the 1990s concept and even proposed collaboration.
In the meantime, NewJeans recently made their comeback on May 24th. Their double title song “How Sweet” sold 811,843 copies on the first day of its release and topped the daily album charts. As such, NewJeans will soon record 1 million copies for the fourth time.
“How Sweet” is also doing well on international music charts and its music video also gained millions of views. The girl group will appear on SBS’s “Inkigayo” on May 26th and continue promoting their comeback song.
Source: daum
