Photo Credits: HARPER’s BAZAAR Korea. BVLGARI. SM Entertainment

There are stars that shimmer, and then there are stars that command the night sky. For Harper’s BAZAAR Korea’s September 2025 issue, Karina of aespa proves herself to be the latter — rendered not just as muse, but as a celestial force, refracted through the opulent lens of BVLGARI. This is not merely a pictorial; it is a portrait of modern myth-making, composure meeting cosmos.

Modern Venus, Sculpted in Shadow and Light

Karina’s presence is, as ever, chiseled elegance: the sharp planes of her face echoing ancient statuary yet softened by the warmth of youth. The editorial styling embraces high-contrast dualities — noir-black tailoring against frosted diamonds, silken drapery paired with Bulgari’s Serpenti motifs — allowing her to embody both futurism and classicism in a single frame. The result feels less like fashion photography and more like the unveiling of a living monument.

Jewels as Constellations, Woman as Universe

BVLGARI’s signature decadence, long affiliated with Rome’s glowing nights, becomes here a visual constellation orbiting around Karina herself. Necklaces curve not so much across her skin as they orbit around her like planetary rings. A cuff becomes a comet escaping gravity; a cluster of sapphires glitters like a pocket of midnight sky. She does not wear the jewels; she activates them.

The September Issue as a Cultural Signpost

September is fashion’s calendar new year, and by featuring Karina as both muse and medium, Harper’s BAZAAR Korea proclaims the shift: young global idols are no longer merely “faces of luxury,” but embodiments of the shifting ideals of beauty, power, and presence. Here, Karina is not styled to please the gaze — she directs it, pulling the audience into her gravitational field. In this, she resembles BVLGARI itself: audacious, sensorial, ancient yet insistently futuristic.

Karina Beyond Idolatry

For aespa’s leader, this pictorial is another evolution in a visual language she has carefully crafted over the years: a spectrum ranging from cybernetic fantasy on stage to sculptural serenity in fashion editorials. The Harper’s BAZAAR portfolio fuses those identities into something singular. Karina, in partnership with BVLGARI, ceases to be just a pop icon — she becomes a perennial emblem of modern luxury: sovereign, untouchable, but still magnetic.

In this September issue, one realizes: fashion has long dreamt of icons who embody myth, technology, and timelessness all at once. In Karina, the dream steps off the page, crystallized in diamonds and shadow.

“Classicism collides with futurism, sculpted in Karina’s silhouette.

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