Humberto Leon is a designer and creative director, but first and foremost, he’s a storyteller. “I think that’s just my way of working creatively, is gathering as much information as possible,” he told celebritiestalks. “The through line of all my work is that I’m a history nerd.”

Following a nine-year stint as Kenzo’s creative director, which he and codesigner Carol Lim left in June 2019 after eight years, the cofounder of Opening Ceremony discovered new ways to channel his inner raconteur: helming a music video for “Growing Up,” a single from rock band The Linda Lindas.

“Growing Up” led Leon to his biggest musical endeavor yet — partnering with Hybe and Geffen Records to launch the Dream Academy. The K-pop behemoth and the major label are joining forces to develop a multinational girl group in the style of Hybe’s hit troops BTS, Seventeen and NewJeans. Leon serves as the project’s creative director.

“I was so intrigued because it just felt like something so new and fresh,” Leon said. His own diverse background (Leon is American with Peruvian and Chinese ancestry) also inspired him to take on the role.

After hundreds of thousands of submissions, the Dream Academy’s finalists were revealed on Aug. 28. Twenty young women from around the world, aged 14 to 21, will compete for a spot in Hybe and Geffen’s new girl group, which has yet to be named.

“People ask me, ‘What is the Dream Academy?’ And I’m like, ‘The Dream Academy is the story of these 20 girls,’” Leon explained.

For the past year, the Dream Academy’s recruits have attended the first K-pop boot camp of its kind in Los Angeles. Their final audition process will be documented in “The Debut: Dream Academy,” a new series airing on YouTube and Abema starting Friday. Auditions will conclude in December, when the members of Hybe x Geffen’s global girl group are officially named.

The years-long process of creating this one-of-a-kind girl group will also be the subject of an upcoming Netflix docuseries, which debuts in 2024. Nadia Hallgren, the Emmy-nominated director of “Becoming,” will helm the yet-to-be-titled project.

The Dream Academy has already been introduced on screen. Upon the reveal of the 20 finalists, Hybe x Geffen released a seven-minute art film directed by Andrew Thomas Huang. In less than a week, it’s garnered more than 1 million views.

As creative director, Leon was heavily involved with the short. “Anything you’ve seen visually has gone through my lens,” he added. In collaboration with Oscar-nominated costume designer and celebrity stylist Shirley Kurata, Leon curated each finalist’s wardrobe for the film.

Part of Leon’s process involved detailed interviews with each finalist. Through these intimate chats he not only gleaned a sense of their backgrounds and interests, but an idea of what causes mattered to them most. Conservation was a common thread.

“The girls talked a lot about the environment,” explained Leon. “They’re really thinking about where the world’s going and what they have to look after.”

Leon and Kurata homed in on vintage Fashion, digging deep into the archives of Rodarte, Jean Paul Gaultier and Prada. They also tapped into hip sustainable brands like Ottolinger and Eckhaus Latta.

“We wanted to make sure that we were celebrating this group as a whole, but that each and every one of them stand out as individuals,” Leon said.