Director Cody Critcheloe talks about his creative vision for LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT, and KATSEYE's "ICONIC BY MISTAKE" MV

On June 12, HYBE girl groups LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT, and KATSEYE joined forces for their collaborative single "ICONIC BY MISTAKE," which was also accompanied by its official music video.

The music video for “ICONIC BY MISTAKE,” which was directed by Cody Critcheleo, shows how the members of the girl groups are unfazed by the chaos around them. The video highlights how even when they're being judged and analyzed, they turn such pressure and scrutiny into authority.

Revealing his aesthetic vision and creative intentions behind the project, Critcheloe describes the music video as “bringing irreverence and subversion” into his work and “pushing against more conventional beauty standards.”

Critcheloe shares that the depth of storytelling, including the lore and symbolism in K-pop, is what pulls him in. Such storytelling creates an interactive space for fans to interpret and decode. 

While preserving this, he approached the visuals more cryptically and unexpectedly, subverting convention by presenting the girls’ own unique beauty in a less polished manner through imagery that feels exaggerated, strange, and even occasionally grotesque, including tombstones, pulling out teeth, and a fire-lit cornfield.

Like many of the music videos Critcheloe has produced, “ICONIC BY MISTAKE” uses a technique of twisting specific myths to project reality. 

Critcheloe shared, “The constant presence of officers, surveillance, and scrutiny throughout 'ICONIC BY MISTAKE' serves as a loose metaphor for the entertainment industry.” 

“Every mishap ultimately works in their favor, reinforcing the idea that mistakes, accidents, and imperfections can become part of what makes someone iconic,” he added.

According to Critcheloe, the video also functions as a shared universe where each group’s unique identity and characteristics remain intact, while still contributing to a bigger narrative. The tombstones for LE SSERAFIM, the wisdom teeth motif for ILLIT, and various visual callbacks for KATSEYE are references familiar to fans, but they take on a new meaning within the larger story in “ICONIC BY MISTAKE.”

Emerging from the chaotic journey, all three groups gather around a campfire in the final scene. They playfully strum guitars while roasting marshmallows before flames that seem ready to swallow an entire field. The director describes the scene: “It's surprisingly simple, endearing, and a little bit funny. In America, we'd jokingly call it a 'kumbaya moment.' Beneath all the spectacle and absurdity, there's a feeling of connection and shared experience.”

The music video for "ICONIC BY MISTAKE" topped YouTube’s Music Video Trending Worldwide chart and surpassed 27 million views within a week of release. In addition, the song “ICONIC BY MISTAKE” reached a new peak at No. 25 on Spotify Daily Top Songs Global and No. 26 on the Spotify US Top Songs chart as of June 17.