CL has spoken about her former girl group 2NE1‘s fashion influences and her impact on the group’s style.

In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, South Korean singer-rapper touched on the “styling experience” of iconic girl group 2NE1 and how the group had defined their image while under a major label, YG Entertainment, as compared to K-pop idols of today.

“Now things are done through the major label system, but in the beginning of 2NE1, it was very organic,” she said. CL the explained that when she first started, she and her fellow bandmates were able to engage in open conversation about the style and look that the group wanted to go with.

“There were very few people in the companies,” she explained. “It would be me and my creative director, and we were all friends, and we were just in the studio coming up with what we liked and finding references.”

She also added that because there had been a “connection” between the group and their stylists – such as Daniel Lee and XIN – which made it “easier to take risks” with their image.

“Back then, performance was the main point, so that’s why we were wearing sneakers onstage, which I didn’t know that it would be such a big deal for a girl group in Korea,” she added. “We were just being ourselves, and that happened to make us different from the other groups.”

CL dropped her debut studio album ‘ALPHA’ in October, featuring singles such as ‘Tie A Cherry’ and the English-language song ‘Lover Like Me’. The album also included her2020 releases, ‘HWA’ and ‘5 STAR’.