The word “versatility” is perhaps best exemplified by the seasons. Each year, winter’s morning frost, spring’s showers, summer’s long days, and fall’s changing of the leaves set four very different stages. These shifts in scenery—informed by Earth’s position to the sun at any given time—can profoundly affect the ways we act, think, and of course dress, summoning different personas within all of us to step into the spotlight for an allotted time.
27-year-old Lalisa Manobal, professionally known as Lisa (as if you didn’t know), is exploring her own versatility with a forthcoming, highly-anticipated debut album Alter Ego. But this is a continuation of an existing theme; Lisa has been harnessing her versatility for years, a quality that helped her rise to prominence within the globally renowned K-Pop phenomenon BLACKPINK.
The Thai performer can dance, rap, sing, and act, and she can do the latter three in Thai, English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. For the record, it’s estimated that less than 1% of the world population speaks five or more languages. In addition to her polyglottal skills, Lisa’s fluency in fashion has made her an ambassador for some of the biggest luxury houses like Celine, Bvlgari, and now Louis Vuitton.
“It’s my first full solo album,” Lisa says about Alter Ego over Zoom. It’s a Sunday night in Los Angeles, one day before her cover shoot with V Magazine. The reflection of a fire’s flames dances in the window behind the sofa upon which she sits, wearing clear-framed glasses and wrapped in a cozy blanket. “I released an EP a few years ago, just two songs, but I wanted to branch out now and experiment with different types of sounds and to have that creative control.” That EP, Lalisa (2021), consisted of two hit tracks—“Lalisa” and “Money”—and solidified Lisa as a powerhouse solo artist, with the former receiving half a billion streams on Spotify and the latter surpassing one billion plays.
At the time of the interview, Lisa had already released “Rockstar” and “New Woman” featuring Rosalía, both of which will be on the new album. But these tracks were just the cherry on top of a whirlwind year for Lisa. She performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and MTV Video Music Awards, plus made her solo festival debut at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City’s Central Park. In July, Louis Vuitton named her its newest house ambassador. Adding to the excitement, Lisa launched her own management company, LLOUD, signaling a bold new chapter where she takes greater control of the business side of her career.
“I’m proud of every single thing,” Lisa says while reflecting back on the blockbuster year. “But if I really, really have to pick a favorite, I would say the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.” And that’s with good reason—last year’s show, held on October 15, marked the brand’s return after a six-year hiatus. Nearly 3 million people tuned in to watch the spectacle live. Along with Tyla and Cher, Lisa’s performance and music helped set the stage for some of fashion’s biggest names—Kate Moss, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Tyra Banks, and Candice Swanepoel—to sashay down the runway.
But while 3 million VS lovers might feel like a lot of people, it’s but a small fraction of Lisa’s respective audience. The multi-talented artist has over 105 million followers on Instagram alone and is widely considered the most-followed K-Pop star in the world. The music and fashion arenas thrive on numbers, and Miss Lisa’s global reach and impact are totally unprecedented. Though meeting all her fans would be a logistical impossibility, she treasures the moments she can connect with them. “While on the BLACKPINK tour, I met so many of them, but I didn’t have time to sit and really listen to them,” she shares. “So this time, there was more of a connection. I went to five different cities and really had time to hear whatever they wanted to share. They also came on stage and expressed themselves. It was good quality time together.”
Another reason Lisa can’t get as much face time with her fans as she’d like is because of her insanely packed schedule. She is, perhaps, one of the hardest-working women in the entertainment industry, a characteristic that has propelled her to try different (and versatile) ventures, such as acting. In 2024, she stepped farther out of her comfort zone with her first foray into television. What was, for most of us, the covetable part of “tree #2” in The Wizard of OzLisa’s first role has been, instead, that of a character named Mook on the much-buzzed-about third season of HBO’s wildly popular The White Lotus series, which is set to take place in Lisa’s beloved mother country of Thailand.
“This was my first acting gig, so when I started, I had to prepare so many things. It’s a whole new world to me,” Lisa says. “I was all over the place. But on the first day of the shoot, everybody was so supportive. Mike White…oh my God, I love him. He was super chill and told me I was doing a good job. I couldn’t believe it.” White told Entertainment Weekly that this season would be “longer, bigger, crazier,” fanning the flames of excitement for what’s to come. That Lisa loves Thailand and was thus thrilled to hear about the new The White Lotus location is no secret. “Thai people are proud,” she says. “I love Thai culture. Some people already know how incredible it is, but I feel like [this show] is a chance to let the world know more about Thailand and its beauty…and it was really fun to shoot. My mom came to set and I had a nice time with her, too.” The show will be released on February 16, 2025.
As if those projects weren’t enough, Lisa will also perform at Coachella in April, a festival at which she performed with BLACKPINK in 2019 and then headlined with the group in 2023. Their first performance made history as the first K-pop group to ever perform at the desert festival, while their second made history as the first K-pop group to headline it. When asked about other plans or goals for next year, Lisa gets slightly overwhelmed. “Right now I’m living on a month-by-month schedule, or every day by day. So I haven’t even thought about what next year is going to look like,” she says. “But of course, I just want to focus on the release of this album first, and then White Lotus is coming up as well.”
Of course, Lisa’s future is a lot less formulaic now than it once was. The K-Pop industry is famous for rules and regulations, guidebooks on exactly how to be or act. But Lisa’s career has now superseded K-Pop, and previous bylaws are out the window for this “New Woman.” Gifted with the aforementioned versatility and shapeshifting ability, the pop music veteran is no longer restricted to “black” or “pink”—she now gets to explore all the seasonal colors in between.
This cover story appears in the pages of V152: now available for purchase!
Photography Inez & Vinoodh
Fashion Genesis Webb & Hunter Clem
Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief Stephen Gan
Makeup Ariel Tejada (PRTNRS)
Hair Glenn Coco (PRTNRS)
Manicurist Juan Alvear (Opus)
Set Design Carl Hopgood (TheOnly)
Florist Jenya Tsybulskyi
Tailors Suzy Yun
Production John Nadhazi (VLM Productions)
Production manager Michael Gleeson (VLM Productions)
Studio Manager Marc Kroop (VLM Studio)
Set Design Assistant Sydney Forester
Photo assistant Amanda Rose
Set Design Assistant Sydney Forester
Production assistant Melisa Mendez
Fashion Coordinator Vital Life
Location Milk Studios
Retouching StereoHorse
