Emma Grede

Emma Grede was born in London, England, and grew up in Plaistow, East London, one of four daughters raised by a single mother. Her mother worked at Morgan StanleyMorgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is an American global financial services firm that grew from an investment banking partnership into a publicly traded financial group spanning investment banking, securities trading, wealth management, and investment management.Open the full entry.⁠[1][2][3]

From the age of 12 she had a paper route and other odd jobs, using the money to buy fashion magazines. She recalled: “I was always scraping around to find £7.50 for all three.”⁠[4][2]

At 16 she enrolled in business studies at the London College of Fashion while taking placements at a concierge company and interning for designers such as Gucci. She later left the college without completing the course, saying: “It was the right decision for me.”⁠[2][5]

After leaving college, Grede worked in entertainment marketing at Inca Productions, a fashion show and event production company. She recalled that the job led her into brokering contracts between artists, fashion designers and brands: “I understood how contracts worked and I was very good at getting stuff off of people.”⁠[6][7]

In 2008 Grede founded ITB Worldwide (Independent Talent Brand), a London entertainment marketing and talent agency, serving as chief executive and later as CEO and chairman. The agency ran brand and celebrity partnership projects in fashion, design, music, sport and entertainment; it handled Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Portman is an actress, director, and producer who made her film debut in Léon: The Professional in 1994 and won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 83rd Academy Awards for Black Swan. She graduated from Harvard University in 2003 with a degree in psychology, co-founded the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team Angel City FC in 2020 with Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman, and others, and founded the production company MountainA with Sophie Mas in 2021.Open the full entry’s Dior campaign and Justin Bieber’s #MyCalvins series for Calvin Klein, and its clients included H&M, Mango, Avon and Lacoste.⁠[8][3][6]

Her husband, Jens Grede, was one of ITB’s first investors; at the time he and his business partner Erik Torstensson ran the London marketing agency Saturday Group. Grede was also behind Kendall Jenner’s #MyCalvins campaign and came to know Kris Jenner at fashion weeks.⁠[3][2]

Grede conceived of a size- and race-inclusive fashion company and took the idea first to Kris Jenner, who suggested pitching it to her daughter Khloé Kardashian; Grede flew to Los Angeles the following week. Explaining why she started with denim, she said: “I really wanted to take a pain product, something that I know women struggle with.”⁠[3][7]

In October 2016 Grede and Khloé Kardashian launched Good American, with Grede as chief executive. The brand sold $1 million on its first day and describes this as the biggest denim launch in history. By Grede’s account, she runs every facet of the business while Kardashian focuses on design and marketing.⁠[1][3]

Good American’s sizes ran from 00 to 32, and it added a size 15, between standard and plus sizing, after studying customer return data. The brand later expanded from denim into dresses, activewear, swimwear, sleepwear and shoes, and is a certified B Corp.⁠[3][2][7][1]

In a 2019 podcast interview she said: “Khloe and I right from the get go said we're going to have a company that's based on a set of principles.”⁠[7]

In 2017 Grede and her husband moved from London to Los Angeles.⁠[3]

In May 2018 Rogers & Cowan, a PR and marketing agency owned by Interpublic Group, acquired ITB Worldwide on undisclosed terms. ITB’s founding shareholders—former CEO Emma Grede, Jens Grede, Erik Torstensson and the London agency Independent Talent Group—exited as part of the deal.⁠[8]

SKIMS was co-founded in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, selling women’s underwear, loungewear and shapewear. Emma Grede is a founding partner and its chief product officer, focusing on design, production, planning and merchandising, while Jens Grede runs day-to-day operations as chief executive.⁠[9][3]

On her role at SKIMS she said: “Skims is Kim’s vision, it’s her idea, it’s her aesthetic. My job is to make that possible and make it happen.”⁠[3]

In 2020 Emma and Jens Grede set up the holding company Popular Culture to consolidate the brands they had co-founded and invested in.⁠[10]

In March 2021 Grede launched Safely, a plant-based cleaning and self-care brand, with Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen; Teigen later stepped away. Grede hired someone else as Safely’s chief executive, explaining: “I’m just not the best person to run a consumer cleaning company.”⁠[3][2][5]

In August 2021 ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry named Grede one of four new guest sharks for the 13th season of the business reality series Shark Tank, which returned that October. She said she took the role to draw attention to underfunded Black-owned businesses. She has since appeared repeatedly as a guest shark and was the first guest Dragon on the BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry series Dragons’ Den.⁠[11][3][12]

In 2022 Grede joined Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women. Forbes estimated her worth at $360 million, largely from a nearly 8% stake in SKIMS (valued at $3.2 billion in January 2022), with the rest from about 23% of Good American, 22% of Safely and smaller stakes in Frame and Brady, companies co-founded by her husband.⁠[3]

In March 2024 the Roku series Side Hustlers, which Grede executive produced and co-hosts with Ashley Graham, premiered; the show helps women entrepreneurs turn side hustles into full-time careers, and a second season followed in August 2024.⁠[12]

In January 2025 Grede and fashion designer Kristin Juszczyk launched the sports apparel brand Off Season in collaboration with the NFLNFLThe NFL (National Football League) is a U.S. professional American football league of 32 clubs. Founded in 1920 as the APFA and renamed in 1922, it is organized into the AFC and NFC, with the season culminating in the Super Bowl.Open the full entry and Fanatics; the debut collection of unisex puffer jackets, vests and coats covered five NFL teams, priced from $295 for vests, $375 for jackets and $495 for long coats.⁠[13]

She said: “Off Season represents a new vision for sports-inspired style.”⁠[13]

On April 30, 2025, the Obama Foundation announced that Grede had joined its board of directors. She had earlier taken part in the foundation’s 2023 Democracy Forum on innovation and inclusion in business, travelled to South Africa with a group led by Michelle Obama and informally advised foundation leaders.⁠[14]

By June 2025 Grede had launched Aspire with Emma Grede, an interview podcast produced by Audacy in which she talks with entrepreneurs and others about careers and personal growth.⁠[4][15]

Forbes estimated her net worth at $405 million as of June 3, 2025, ranking her No. 88 on its 2025 list of America’s richest self-made women; about three-quarters of the fortune came from her SKIMS stake, and she also owned 10% of Cakes Body, a maker of reusable nipple covers.⁠[4]

On November 12, 2025, SKIMS announced a $225 million capital raise valuing the company at $5 billion, led by Goldman SachsGoldman SachsGoldman Sachs is an American financial services group headquartered in New York whose businesses include investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management. It traces its origins to the commercial paper business Marcus Goldman founded in 1869; it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 under the ticker GS and became a bank holding company in 2008. David Solomon serves as chairman and chief executive officer.Open the full entry Alternatives with participation from funds affiliated with BDT & MSD Partners. The company then had 18 owned stores in the United States and two franchise doors in Mexico and expected net sales to exceed $1 billion in 2025; it had earlier launched the NikeSKIMS brand in partnership with NikeNikeNIKE, Inc. is an American athletic brand company made up of the Nike, Jordan and Converse brands, with its world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.Open the full entry Inc.⁠[9]

As of March 2026 the Gredes together held just under 14% of SKIMS, with Kim Kardashian holding 35%; Emma Grede held about 23% of Good American and 22% of Safely. The couple were also described as co-founders and investors in Kylie Jenner’s clothing brand Khy, with undisclosed stakes.⁠[10]

In April 2026 Grede published her first book, Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life, part memoir and part self-help guide drawing on her upbringing and business career. It became a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller.⁠[16][17]

Promoting the book, she said of women and money: “I think it’s really important for women to understand that you can still do really deeply meaningful and impactful work and care about money.”⁠[16]

Grede chairs the Fifteen Percent Pledge, a campaign started after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 that asks retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands; signatories include Nordstrom, Sephora and Macy’s.⁠[6][3]

She also sits on the board of the children’s charity Baby2Baby, is a trustee of Women for Women International and has become a King’s Trust Ambassador.⁠[6][17]

Grede married Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede, co-founder of Frame, in 2012; the couple have four children and live in Los Angeles.⁠[10][1]

Personal website: https://www.emmagrede.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

X: Public account: https://x.com/emmagrede (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-grede-0a0a6361/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]