The Unspoken Rule Every Starship Entertainment Girl Group Follows

The girl groups of Starship Entertainment have recently gained attention for the one unique trend they all follow.

IVE | @IVEstarship/Twitter

Sometimes in K-Pop groups, the oldest member is named the leader of the group. For many groups, this is an easy choice as the oldest is may be the most mature and responsible. They can also be a role model for the other members to look up to.

KiiiKiii | @We_KiiiKiii/Twitter

However, netizens recently noticed the the girl groups of Starship Entertainment follow their own interesting pattern: SISTAR‘s Bora was the oldest member, born in 1989. However, it was Hyorin, the second oldest, who was given the title of leader.

SISTAR’s Bora and Hyorin

Similar, in WJSN, SeolA was the oldest member born in 1994. Meanwhile, the second oldest Exy was assigned the position of leader.

WJSN’s SeolA and Exy

The exact same situation also happened with IVE: The oldest member is Gaeul, but the second oldest member Yujin is the leader.

IVE’s Gaeul and Yujin

Now, netizens have realized the same thing has happened with KiiiKiii as the oldest member LeeSol is not the leader. Instead, the title was given to the Jiyu who was born soon after her.

KiiiKiii’s Jiyu and LeeSol

Many have theorized that the reason for this may be to help evenly distribute the responsibilities to the two oldest members: The leader may guide the group in a work-related atmosphere whereas the oldest member can be a source of support in their personal lives.

WJSN | Dispatch

Additionally, it helps to lessen the burden of being the leader as the oldest member can help the leader.

SISTAR | Billboard