Why The Dancers From Gap’s Viral ‘Better In Denim’ Commercial Look So Familiar

American clothing retailer Gap has been making waves with its “Better in Denim” commercial, which features a group of six young women surrounded by a veritable battalion of dancers engaging in incredibly elaborate choreography to the tune of Kelis’ 2003 hit “Milkshake.” If you’ve been following pop culture over the past year, you may recognize the young women in question as the six members of Katseye, a global girl group signed to South Korea’s Hybe UMG entertainment company and the United States’ Geffen Records. 

Since debuting in 2024, Katseye has been on the rise in popularity and prestige, and they’re having a big moment this year thanks to the release of their hit second EP, “Beautiful Chaos” — so it’s as perfect a time as ever for Gap to have recruited them for a massively viral ad campaign. The commercial, which has already amassed nearly eight million views on YouTube in just over a week, was directed by Bethany Vargas, who recently co-helmed the hugely successful music video for Lady Gaga‘s “Abracadabra.” 

Choreography was handled by Robbie Blue, who, since 2024, has also overseen the dancing in music videos by Doechii, Tinashe, and Tate McRae. Both Vargas and Blue do a stellar job of spotlighting the sheer charisma, presence, and motor coordination of the Katseye girls, which they’d already demonstrated in several music videos and live performances prior to their team-up with Gap; indeed, the denim ad comes as a sort of victory lap for Katseye following months of hard work and savvy pop gamesmanship.

Katseye originally formed on the talent competition reality show “Dream Academy,” a Hybe-Geffen co-production that aired on YouTube between August and November 2023. The show brought together 20 contestants from all over the world in singing and dancing missions until a final lineup of six group members was consolidated; that lineup was then given the name “Katseye” after the yellow-colored cymophane gemstone.

Created as a global group that aims to meld the thorough organization, intense training, and densely detailed branding of K-pop girl groups with a higher level of artistic and thematic freedom and a culturally diverse focus, Katseye is made up of Sophia Laforteza from the Philippines, Jeung Yoonchae from South Korea, Manon Bannerman from Switzerland, and Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, and Megan Skendiel from the U.S. The group officially debuted in June 2024 with the appropriately-titled single “Debut,” followed by two five-song EPs: “SIS (Soft Is Strong)” in August 2024, and “Beautiful Chaos” in June 2025.

In addition to making a mighty chart showing, “Beautiful Chaos” sparked singles like “Gnarly,” an outré hyperpop confection that went extensively viral on social media, and “Gabriela,” a Latin pop-inflected R&B cut that became their highest-charting song yet across the globe. The videos for both “Gnarly” and “Gabriela” feature choreography on a similar level of complexity to the Gap “Better in Denin” campaign — as well as the same cheeky sense of humor and show-stopping group chemistry that have become staples of Katseye.

The significance of the “Better in Denim” commercial as a supernova moment for the Katseye girls is not its only claim to cultural ubiquity. The ad also marks a second chapter in the ongoing “jeans culture wars” that have engulfed the United States zeitgeist and sparked a torrent of social media discourse.

The Katseye Gap ad has been interpreted by many news outlets, Katseye fans, and casual viewers as a sly response to the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle commercial, which places the 27-year-old American actress in several minimalist stage setups as she encourages viewers to buy American Eagle jeans — an invitation capped by the wordplay slogan “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” Thanks in particular to a part in which Sweeney says that “genes are passed down from parent to offspring” and “[her] ‘jeans’ are blue,” the ad has been accused by some of playing to eugenicist and white supremacist ideas, while others have decried such claims as exaggerated.

Whatever the case, the commercial became the center of intense political turmoil, and the Gap commercial has been read as a response for several reasons: It features a similar studio setup; Katseye is a group known for its cultural and ethnic diversity; and the chorus of “Milkshake” has the girls confidently lip-sync to the lyrics “It’s better than yours.” Whether or not it was truly intended as a response, the fact remains that denim ads have become a central cultural artifact of 2025.