Winter is finally here—JISOO’s favourite season of all. The past few months have moved at a relentless pace, and suddenly it’s the new year again. She wants this winter to feel warm, gentle, and slow. “I don’t want to miss a single snowy moment,” she says. She imagines staying home under a thick, warm blanket, watching snow fall outside the window. As a child, she envied the characters in comics who stayed cosy indoors peeling tangerines; this year, she plans to peel as many as she can.
Today, she’s photographed beneath a landscape that looks almost hand-painted. What kind of art does she usually gravitate toward? Her preferences, she explains, depend on colour harmony. She’s more drawn to subdued, calm tones than intense, saturated ones. She loves cute, comic-like illustrations as much as drawings of trees or flowers.
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Looking back on 2025, she recalls a year full of movement, but one personal moment stands out: After wrapping a tour stop, she boarded a late-night flight home. Unable to sleep, she stared out of the window and saw an enormous meteor shower blaze across the sky. “The bright, fast streak felt so close, like I was existing in the same space as the stars.” If you ever fly at night, she says, make sure to look outside—“the sky is full of stars.”
The DEADLINE world tour is still in full swing. One of her recent favourite moments happens every time she sings “STAY.” When BLINKs switch on their phone lights and move together as one, the scene imprints itself deeply. “I know it’ll stay with me for a long time. When things get hard, I’ll take that memory out again—it will give me strength.” She laughs that she’s become something of a “tour veteran.” Has she become better at handling unexpected moments on stage? “Strangely enough, we’ve handled surprises well since our rookie days. After so many years together, we can read each other’s eyes instantly. There have been plenty of surprises, but I doubt many people noticed,” she says with a laugh.
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After a recent Bangkok concert, she posted on social media that performing three times in LISA’s hometown was an honour and a blessing—and that Thailand now feels like home. Visiting a member’s hometown still feels tender. “Lisa came to Korea so young and grew so well. Knowing how much she loves Korea makes me love Thailand even more.” Before every Thai show, Lisa packs food from her favourite restaurants, buys snacks, and teaches her the latest trending phrases. “Thailand is best experienced with LISA,” JISOO smiles.
The tour has also been a canvas for fashion. One outfit she still remembers vividly is the pink Dior dress she wore at LA’s SoFi Stadium—a piece that took 100 hours to create. It was right before she met creative director Jonathan Anderson, and she remembers feeling a rush of excitement at stepping into a new chapter of Dior. She adored the dress instantly. In the invitation teaser for Dior’s spring/summer 2026 show—where she appears fitting the dress—the scene looked cinematic, almost like watching a fairytale princess. The fitting-scene idea was new and fun, but because they filmed multiple takes with the same points of movement, she found herself stitching and unstitching the same part of the skirt over and over. “It was so funny that everyone ended up laughing throughout the shoot,” she says.
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In this time with the Maison, JISOO has also enjoyed a rewarding journey of self-discovery. “I think spending so much time with Dior helped me find my own colours and gain confidence. I discovered parts of myself I didn’t know before. The fear disappeared. Being able to enjoy the present moment—that’s the biggest reward.”
On the music front, she recently released “EYES CLOSED,” a duet with Zayn from One Direction—an unexpected combination that surprised fans worldwide. How did it happen? While recording the track in LA last April, someone said, “Wouldn’t this be great as a duet with Zayn?” She laughed it off, thinking it sounded like a dream—but the dream materialised. “It felt like the song finally became complete when Zayn joined.”
What did they talk about most? She was particularly struck by the music video’s unique, space-like worldview. At first, both of them felt awkward at the thought of filming a music video together, but as they talked about music, the stiffness melted away. “Once shooting began, we sang, loosened up, and ended up enjoying the process together.”
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The song explores a more mature kind of love—one expressed in lines like “We should fall in love with our eyes closed.” Through her recent solo songs, she has been talking about the many forms that love can take. “There are so many ways to love. So many human emotions connect back to it, so it feels natural to talk about it. When I felt depressed, angry, or low, I started thinking even those emotions were another expression of love, and that helped me shift my mood more quickly.”
What does she believe perfect love looks like? “Perfect love doesn’t exist. Maybe the closest version is two people understanding each other as much as possible—that might be the final stage of love.”
Her vocal tone in this track is lower and more delicate—an intentional shift. She tries to make each recording slightly different. “Every song carries a different emotion, so I want my voice to reflect that.”
As she approaches her 10th debut anniversary this year, music still excites her and still challenges her every time. She is preparing her next solo album while also working on BLACKPINK’s new release scheduled for early next year. “When I find a new feeling in a song, I immediately want to share it. I hope someone out there feels the same emotion I felt.”
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What does “doing well” mean for her as an artist now? “It feels more important to present a look that carries a new tone rather than a flawless, unshaken image. It’s still difficult. Everyone wants different things, so you can’t satisfy everyone—but you can’t stick to one path either. You need flexibility and flow. I’m still learning.”
Recently, she changed her YouTube channel name from 행복지수 103% to JISOO. Some fans felt nostalgic about the old name, just as she did. She’s never loved being photographed or been particularly active on social media, so starting YouTube was a big leap. She chose the playful name simply to share everyday moments. But after launching her own company, she needed a platform that made sense for music promotion. So she switched to JISOO, a name anyone could easily find. “If everyone feels okay about it, then my happiness index is 103 per cent,” she laughs.
These days, people are finally noticing how funny she is. She doesn’t remember the exact story she told that made her friends laugh recently, but they often describe her as having “no filter”—something she thinks comes from honesty rather than intention. It also helps that she has learned how to care for and protect herself. “I’m always taking good care of myself,” she laughs. “And I want to keep living like that.”
She ends with a quiet wish: “When things get hard, I hope you remember you always have yourself. Don’t let even the smallest breeze shake you.”
Fashion Editor LEE HA YAN
Stylist CHOI JA YOUNG
Hairstylist LEE HYE YOUNG
Make-Up Artist LEE NA KYEUM
Manicurist PARK EUN KYUNG
Assistant LIM JU WON
Art Designer LEE SO JEONG