Lee Hye-in (, ; born April 21, 2008), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as Hyein, is a South Korean singer and former child model. She began her musical career at nine years old as a member of the South Korean children's groups U.sso Girl and Play with Me Club. She later debuted as a member of South Korean girl group

NewJeans NewJeans (), also known as NJZ (), is a South Korean girl group formed by ADOR, a sub-label of Hybe Corporation, Hybe. The group is composed of five members: Minji (singer), Minji, Hanni (singer), Hanni, Danielle Marsh, Danielle, Haerin, and H ...

, formed by

ADOR Eddy Castellanos Sr. (September 26, 1969 – January 1, 2025), known professionally as A.D.O.R., was an American hip hop artist whose work includes the Pete Rock-produced hit "Let It All Hang Out" (Atlantic, 1992), and "One for the Trouble" (Atl ...

in July 2022.

Life and career

2008–2019: Early life and modeling career

Lee Hye-in was born on April 21, 2008, in

Michuhol District Michuhol District () is a municipal district in Incheon, South Korea. This district was called Nam (South) District until July 1, 2018.Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, South Korea. Hyein attended Munhak Elementary School, but later dropped out soon after taking the school's qualification exam. As a former

child model A child model is a child who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art, such as photography, painting and sculpture. Practice Artists have used children as models for countless ...

, she worked as the 7th model for the snapback brand PRANKERS in August 2019. Hyein thereafter walked the runway at age eleven during the 2019 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week held at

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia in October. In December, she won the grand prize for the 2019 Little Look of the Year, a competition for child models. Hyein has since served as an advertising model for brands including Tara & Co. and Emart's No Brand.

2017–2021: U.SSO Girl and Play With Me Club

In July 2017, Hyein was announced as a member of the children's girl group U.sso Girl alongside Rora of

Babymonster Babymonster (; stylized in all caps), also referred to as Baemon ( ; ), is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of seven members: Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Ahyeon, Rami, Rora, and Chiquita. They debuted as a full ensemble ...

under the stage name U.Jeong. The group debuted on November 7, 2017, with their first digital single, "Go Go Sing". Hyein would later depart from the group sometime in 2018. On January 11, 2019, she was revealed as a member of the children's co-ed group Play with Me Club. The group made their debut with the first digital single, "Let's Play", on December 16, 2020. During this period, she made an appearance on the EBS children's television show ''Live Talk! Talk! Boni Hani!'' as a member of the co-ed dance group SIXDANCE. Hyein, along with fellow member Chang-hyeon, graduated from the group in May 2021.

2022–present: Debut in NewJeans and solo activities

On July 1, 2022,

teased the launch of their first girl group,

, by posting three animated videos of the numbers "22", "7" and "22" on their social media accounts, fueling speculation that content would be released on 22 July. Hyein debuted alongside the group with the surprise-released music video for their debut single "

Attention Attention or focus, is the concentration of awareness on some phenomenon to the exclusion of other stimuli. It is the selective concentration on discrete information, either subjectively or objectively. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...

" on July 22, 2022, without any prior promotion or information regarding the group's lineup. In February 2024, Hyein featured along with singer Wonsun Joe on the track "Shh.." from '' The Winning'', the sixth extended play by singer-songwriter IU.

Endorsements

On December 30, 2022,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

announced Hyein as one of their new global house ambassadors, becoming the youngest ambassador for the brand at 14 years old. She has also attended

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (, commonly ) is a series of designer presentations held semi-annually in Paris, France, with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Pa ...

representing Louis Vuitton. In April 2023, Hyein became the youngest cover girl to be on the cover of ''Harper's Bazaar Korea''.

Discography

Charted songs

Videography

Music videos

Music video appearances

Filmography

Hosting

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hye-in, Lee 2008 births Living people NewJeans members South Korean women pop singers South Korean female dancers South Korean female idols South Korean female models South Korean television personalities K-pop singers Hybe Corporation artists Musicians from Incheon South Korean child singers