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Did aespa's Karina wear white body paint to appear fairer at Milan Fashion Week? Fans react to accusations
Fans defend Karina as she gets accused of excessive use of tone-up cream to make her skin appear lighter at the 2025 Milan Fashion Week.
K-pop idols are often accused of whitewashing their entire bodies for stage performances or prestigious event appearances. The latest case involves aespa member Karina, who attended the Prada show at Milan Fashion Week on February 27. She graced the event as a global ambassador for the luxury brand. However, her overall look for the event received mixed reviews from fans, with some accusing her of using white body paint to appear fairer.
The fan discussion took place on the Korean celebrity web portal Pann Nate after a fan posted some photos of Karina in which her legs appeared unnaturally white. Referring to the pictures, the original poster (OP) wrote, "They look like dead feet. Why does aespa always do this?"
They even created a collage comparing the aespa member with IVE's Jang Wonyoung to highlight the stark difference between their skin tones. However, fans were quick to defend their beloved artist, arguing that external factors could have been responsible for the photos appearing a certain way.
K-pop fans are well aware of the tone-up creams that idols occasionally use. However, according to them, these creams only brighten the skin slightly, but "it's not like it's going to change your skin color and make you white." They further argued that if a simple cream were enough to make someone several shades lighter and appear fair-complexioned, "then everyone in the world should just apply tone-up cream and have skin like Karina or Winter."
Many fans also pointed out that the pictures Karina posted on her Instagram looked very different from the particular media agency's photo that the original poster (OP) had shared.
In the pictures posted by the girl group member, there is one particular shot of her hands and legs where her skin tone appears even. Pointing this out, a fan wrote, "Didn't it just come out like that because the lighting was strong? If you look at regular photos, it's just a normal tone, but you keep bringing up TikTok videos of foreigners being so annoying."
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