They made history; they walked out of the company together saying "7 or Never" and "GOT7 Forever". - Haida
Hi Haida, Thank-You for taking the time to participate in ‘Fan Features’ by sharing you story and overall love for GOT7! To start things off, why don’t your introduce yourself?
I am Haida, I’m currently 21 years old and I study Fashion Branding and Communication but I am currently on a year out of uni freelancing as a stylist and creative director. I Stan 7 crackheads (GOT7), who I’ve been stanning got for almost 6 years now and had the chance to finally see them in London for their Keep Spinning world tour where I also met you.
It has honestly been a pleasure getting to know you since the GOT7 concert...I am proud to call you my friend! Speaking of Got7...let’s go back to the very beginning of your journey as an Aghase, how did you first come to discover GOT7? What was your first impression of them as a group?
I was hanging out with my cousin and we were showing each other meaningful songs. This is when I was growing out of my Directioner phase; when I liked One Direction, I hated K-Pop because my friend liked it so we always used to debate who is better, One Direction or K-Pop (specifically BAP and Pre Debut Ikon). She left secondary school so I didn’t hear of K-Pop for years. So back to when I was with my cousin Saida; she knew I hated Kpop so she said "I will show you a song but don’t watch the video just read the lyrics". She put on Just Right by GOT7 and I fell for them! My first impression was that Mark looks hot and BamBam is so cute -haha! I just really liked the video; it was narrated so well and the aesthetics and visuals were so beautiful.
She then tried to show me EXO's Call Me Baby which I also liked but wanted to see more of GOT7 because of the cute kid BamBam. It's funny because she kept her K-Pop obsession a secret from me so I don’t debate with her because “One Direction is better”. I was very childish. And yes I became very obsessed it was like another dimension to me. I remember listening to Just Right on repeat for 2 hours straight.
For those who aren’t familiar with GOT7, how would you define their music?
Their music is very diverse: some of their songs are my vibe, some are just nice to listen to and some I personally don’t like (but I still support them and I bet those songs could be better if JYP didn’t touch it). JYP is the agency they are from and as he (Park Jin-young) was also a musician, liked to change their songs and make it bad because he thinks about his own taste. He also mistreats GOT7, but they’ve left the company now so im very excited for GOT7! So overall, they have very diverse songs; they have songs that you would love to listen to on a long drive, songs you wanna play at a party and not to mention they have amazing voices-especially king Youngjae! Personally, I think he has the best voice in the whole music industry.
It's great that GOT7 were able to leave the company and have gained the freedom they rightly deserve! So do you have a favourite GOT7 song? Does your chosen song have a special meaning behind it?
I have 3 favourite songs; 'Just Right', 'Thank-You' and the the last one 'You Calling my Name'.
I think every aghase will say that 'Thank You' is their favourite song, I think the lyrics will explain the reason why its our national anthem. 'Just Right' is very meaningful to me; 2 years before I got into GOT7, I started to experience anxiety and panic attacks, it was very little at the start but it increased alot and I had to learn how to distract my mind or stop thinking negatively. When I got into GOT7 I found that distraction; every time I had a panic attack I would find a funny video of theirs and it would distract my brain from the panic attack. 'Calling My Name' is my favourite GOT7 song because its the type of song I personally love. I love songs that feature bass guitars like this song or 'Who Do You Love' by Monsta X or Charlie Puth's 'How Long'. I just love songs like that and the MV and outfits were perfect! It was also their comeback one month after I had seen them live and it felt like I became a fan all over again! It felt very special and different.
GOT7 has clearly made their own unique mark in K-Pop and really come into their own as artists. What is it that makes them stand out not only as artists but as people?
I personally think that they have a very special friendship and with them being human, are different compared to other K-Pop idols. With them "being human", I mean that although I know they are restricted to say and do certain stuff; they are still very open and savage.
They have gone against rules their company set them because they feel it's unfair and are good at standing up for themselves. Eventually their company does allow it; for example they banned physical interactions at fan meetings and concerts but GOT7 went against the rules and after a few months the company gave up and allowed hi-touch at concerts again; or when they have lives and can't talk about certain stuff, they still do and then they expose their managers are telling them to be quiet.
Now they've finally left the company they're exposing them because they did really mistreat GOT7.
Since debuting in 2014, GOT7 have had a truly exciting career, what has been the highlight? Are there any notable moments that stand out to you?
There are so many moments...but right now 10/01/21 is the best day ever for them and us as fans. They finally left their company!
At first, I got very upset thinking they will never have comebacks and world tours together but I was also happy for them because they are finally free. However, a day later they announced that they still will do group activities so there's no more sadness. They made history; they walked out of the company together saying "7 or Never" and "GOT7 Forever".
I've previously stanned groups who have broken up or a member has left and when the news came out they never mentioned each other again and just don’t talk about it. GOT7 are just so different, they were all actively posting and talking to fans on twitter, reassuring us. I like that because it became more like we're friends rather than idols and fans.
Let’s talk a little about life as an Aghase…Can you tell us about the impact that GOT7 have had in your life personally? What does being Aghase mean to you?
As I mentioned GOT7, have become the distraction that helped me when I was suffering panic attacks; they made me a better person. Of course this is not only thanks to them, it's also thanks to my family and others around me but they are the ones who influenced me to live a better life and be close to the people around me. They have made me confident and thanks to them I’ve found so many friends to fangirl with! Being an Aghase means being friends with crackheads; they are some of the funniest people ever and so are the fans!
In recent years you’ve spent time studying fashion and have participated in a number of exciting projects, shoots etc, has the K-Pop industry had any influence on this?
I feel like Kpop has had an influence in the fashion industry in general; in fact every industry. I’ve been a Stan since 2015 and I’ve witnessed how the K-Wave has come to the west.
I remember going to Primark in 2018 and seeing that they sell K-Beauty products. I see BTS everywhere and there's also been a big raise of Ulzzang fashion especially in the years 2017-2019 which is still ongoing. Even my fashion lecturer at university showed us a photo of G-Dragon. I was told that trends start in Japan and Korea thats where you find trend researchers, so I think every industry is inspired by Korea.
How did you interest in fashion and styling begin? Was this a career path you’ve always dreamt of taking?
I got into fashion when I saw my Aunties make a dress for me back when I went to Afghanistan when I was 6; I realised that clothes are made by people and not machines.
So initially my dream was to become a fashion designer but when I tried it out at uni I felt like it was a lot of stress and I won’t learn anything about how to start my own business so I changed my course to fashion branding and communication and thats where I got into styling. Having a clothing brand is still my dream so hopefully I can make that happen one day.
Do you have any advice for someone who may be interested in pursuing a career in fashion?
My biggest advice is to think about what sector of fashion you want to work in; its a very broad industry with many jobs. But one thing that is very important in the industry is networking; it is important to meet people within the industry and to motivate yourself. For example, when I got into styling I always collaborated with photographers, models, HMUAS etc...because you can meet people through them or they can give you opportunities. Posting your work on social media so that people in the industry can hopefully see it and message you-even if its someone else who wants to collaborate. Always take chances because you never know where it will take you!
Specifically focusing on GOT7, are there any members that stick out to you in terms of their fashion sense?
BamBam has a very unique fashion sense compared to the members and the industry itself; he seems like the type of guy who likes to try everything and doesn’t mind standing out from the crowd in his unique outfits. He’s very confident when it comes to fashion. People don't realise but he does start trends that other K-Pop idols then follow. Personally, I really like JBs style too, its very laid back street style but the composition is breath taking.
If you were given the opportunity to style the GOT7 members, what sort of vision would you have for their outfits?
I would die for this opportunity!! It would depend on what the event or song is but when I got into designing and styling I often would think of a song or theme and would style or design according to the song and its vibe. For example, if I was to style for 'Last Piece' I would take away the red outfits and the ones they wore at the start. For the pieces they wore at the start, I loved what Mark and BamBam were wearing so I would get more pieces like those. For example, the composition of BamBam's trousers and the net top Mark was wearing so I would pick more pieces like that and less blazers. I feel like GOT7's stylist always used embellished blazers and its rinsed now and just doesn’t seem to fit in with the song, theme and backdrop. For the red looks, I would replace them with deconstructed suits with colours mathing the paintings in the backdrop like blue, red, cream, rustic yet earthy colours including some marble effect white/cream pattern on the suits.
You recently started an Etsy shop selling customised K-Pop inspired tote bags, can you tell us more?
Yes, when I learnt more about embroidery on a sewing machine in college I made my friend a tote bag with BTS’ Taehyung's portrait drawn on the bag through stitches. That was the first ‘wearable’ piece I had made for someone; something that isn’t just a design on a paper but something that a person can ‘wear’ when they go out. I wanted to make more but I was in uni then and got busy, however when I went to concerts I saw people sell stuff and my friends told me, if you can you can make bags and sell them there, so I did that and thats how I met Robyn and Laurel too. Robyn and Laurel were very sweet and really motivated me so very recently I made a Etsy account to sell them.
Have you ever had the chance to attend a GOT7 concert? If so, can you tell us about your experience?
YES!! I finally got to see them at the 'Keep Spinning' tour in London! I finally saw them after stanning for 4 years and it was amazing!!!! I had vip tickets so I actually got to meet them too!
GOT7 were amazing and the concert could have been better if the venue staff were not so strict; they prohibited filming so every time they thought someone was filming they would either push us to get to them and tell them to top or flash lights towards us so we were constantly disturbed by the security guards.
They didn’t let us stand by the barricades, and really restricted what a GOT7 concert is normally like. GOT7 have a trad
of getting off the stage; reaching out to the fans, picking up phones, picking up gifts and all these were restricted until towards the end of the concert when I’m guessing GOT7's staff or GOT7 themselves asked them to stop the restrictions and thats when it got lit! But in general GOT7 were amazing! There was so much interactions and talent! Yugyeom even noticed my banner so I forgot everything that had happened.
You even had the chance to meet GOT7 after the concert?! What was that like? Any exciting interactions with the members?
During hi-touch they were so sweet and fun! I was too overwhelmed with everything that had happened so I was crying and Mark was like "don’t cryyyyyy" which obviously made me cry more. Jackson seemed very tired but he still made effort to seem happy, Youngjae was smiling like an actual angel-hes is so cute !!! JB sat on the table with his legs out forwards so he was extremely close to us fans! I love his humour so I had to go with the trend and say he’s cute and he rolled his eyes and looked directly at me saying “Noooo im sexyyyy” and then laughed. At this point im not crying anymore...then I turn around and see my ult (favourite member) Yugyeom who was smiling like a baby and I lost it!! Then of course I had to vibe with BamBam, I've always wanted to dab with him so we did it and yes we had some kinda dance battle while Jinyoung was judging us hard. So lastly I saw Jinyoung-he is just wow! Fans and people who meet Jinyoung always said that he’s extremely handsome and looks like a prince and it's true! He really is perfect and my jaw dropped. They left me speechless, no words can describe how it was.
Every fan has been inspired by their favourite artists and I think it’s so important to highlight their impact, so I wondered if you had a message for the guys in GOT7?
If I had a messaged for GOT7 I would say 'Thank-you for being my distraction, your videos have made me laugh a lot and forget about my hardships. Thank-you for making me a confident crackhead, thank-you for motivating me to work hard, and thank-you for leaving JYP, I can;t wait to see you guys to grow further!!! I have so much more to say but I'll keep it short.
If you could recommend a song to someone who hasn’t listened to GOT7 before what would it be and why?
I would recommend 'You Calling My Name' and 'Breath'; the songs are very catchy and would be likeable for someone who hasn't heard any of their songs before. The visuals and outfits are on point too! MyByHaida
I was lucky enough to meet Haida at GOT7's concert in London back in 2019 and have kept in touch ever since. She is such a talented lady who I believe will go far in the world of fashion. It's truly an honour to share Haida's story and hear just how much of an impact GOT7 have made in her life. I'm sure Haida will agree, GOT7 are such a strong group with so much talent to offer and I genuinely believe this next chapter is just the beginning for them.
If you'd like to check out more of Haida's work as a stylist or order one of her gorgeous K-Pop totes (she'll even design one to accommodate your favourite idol) be sure to click on one of the links below:
Etsy: MadeByHaida
K-Pop Totes Instagram: @irregullarr_threads
Stylist Instagram: @haidahamidi