Last October, Jennie Kim (known to most people as just Jennie) stepped on stage in Taiwan during the Blackpink world tour, wearing a vintage Chanel lingerie set under a pair of baggy jeans. The boxer-style underwear and bra, which features a black camellia on the band, appeared on the house’s spring/summer 1993 runway. The Blackpink singer is no stranger to a Chanel moment—she’s been an ambassador for the house since 2019, and had attended Matthieu Blazy’s debut show earlier that month. But there was a certain element of newness in the high-low mix of denim and vintage Chanel; it was concocted by Sam Woolf, Kim’s new Australian stylist, who’s also known for working with Doechii and Jhene Aiko. 

“It was really just a matter of understanding [Jennie], learning more about her and her culture,” Woolf says of beginning working with Kim earlier last year. He is also known for working with Doechii, shaping the US rapper’s style through her generational rise; the squad of Thom Browne back-up dancers at last year’s Grammys, and Doechii’s custom Louis Vuitton Met Gala look, are two of the biggest serves from their collaboration. He recalls meeting Kim “through different work environments and with different colleagues”, before the opportunity to work together opened up. “I really thought we could do something fun together, and so we started chatting, and our teams started talking,” Woolf recalls. Ultimately, Woolf says, it was about striking a balance between all facets of Kim’s personal style, both as a solo performer and as a part of Blackpink. The two began to exchange references with one another from their bases (Woolf in LA, Kim primarily in South Korea). “I was just sending her references and different ideas, different sketches from different designers. And I started slowly learning more about her, and her personality and what she likes.” The colour red, which appears in Jennie’s album Ruby, informed the clothes she would wear. “She likes being cool, she likes to be sexy, but she also likes having [an] edge… it’s not all girly, feminine vibes, it's a mix of sexy, feminine, with an edgy tomboy look,” Woolf says. 

The fashion hits came quick and fast. Since that vintage Chanel moment, Kim has worn custom Vivienne Westwood, off-the-runway McQueen and Schiaparelli, and a crucifix-covered black set from sought-after leather label Chrome Hearts. She’s worn pieces by independent brands Ottolinger, Vaquera and Mowalola, as well as the Hong Kong-born couturier Robert Wun, who created a custom bodysuit modelled off one of his scorched haute couture gowns (paired with a custom umbrella for a fun, theatrical flair). “With Jennie, she always likes to have a little layer she can take off; it’s normally a jacket that she can take off for a particular song throughout her set,” Woolf shares. 

One of Kim’s most buzzed-about outfits was at the Golden Disc Awards in Taipei, where she won Artist of the Year. For the carpet, she wore a custom Maison Margiela red gown modelled off the veiled corseted looks at Glenn Martens’ debut haute couture show. She also performed in Tokyo wearing custom Maison Margiela, based on the spring/summer 2026 ready-to-wear show. It was the first time Martens had designed a performer’s stage look at Margiela. “I reached out to the team at Margiela, and they were super interested, and obviously the PR team was like, ‘We want to talk with Glenn, we’ll come back to you’ … I then showed Jennie some references from the runway that I thought were interesting, and sent them over to the Margiela team,” Woolf recalls.