Emma Grede is a British entrepreneur, fashion designer, and co-founder of several successful brands, including Good American, Skims, and Safely. She is also the wife of Jens Grede, a Swedish businessman, co-founder of Frame Denim, and CEO of Skims. Together, the couple has amassed a fortune of over $600 million, according to Forbes, and have partnered with Kim Kardashian on two of her most lucrative ventures: Skims and Safely.
From London to Los Angeles
Emma Grede was born in 1982 in East London, to a white English mother and a Black Jamaican and Trinidadian father. She grew up in a low-income neighborhood with her single mother and three younger sisters. She developed a passion for fashion at an early age, and started working various jobs to save money for magazines and clothes. She enrolled at the London College of Fashion at 16, but dropped out before graduating to pursue her career. She worked as a concierge, a fashion show producer, and eventually founded her own talent management and entertainment marketing agency, ITB Worldwide, in 2008.
Jens Grede was born in 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied business and economics at Stockholm University, and moved to London in 2002 to work as a creative director for a magazine. He met his future business partner, Erik Torstensson, at a party, and they decided to launch their own creative agency, Saturday Group, in 2003. They also founded Industrie, a fashion and culture magazine, in 2009, and Frame Denim, a premium denim brand, in 2012.
Emma and Jens met through mutual friends in London in 2010, and hit it off immediately. They got married in 2012, and have four children: Grey, Lola, and twins Lake and Rafferty. They moved to Los Angeles in 2017, where they live in a $45 million Malibu mansion that once belonged to Ellen DeGeneres.
Partnering with Kim Kardashian
Emma and Jens have both collaborated with Kim Kardashian on different projects, leveraging their expertise in fashion, marketing, and branding. Emma first met Kris Jenner, Kim’s mother and manager, at Paris Fashion Week in 2015, and pitched her an idea for a denim company that would cater to women of all sizes and shapes. She wanted to partner with Khloé Kardashian, Kim’s sister, who had struggled with finding jeans that fit her curves. Kris agreed, and Emma and Khloé launched Good American in 2016, with Emma as the CEO. The brand sold $1 million worth of jeans on its first day, and has since expanded to include dresses, activewear, tops, swimwear, sleepwear, and shoes. Good American is known for its size-inclusive and body-positive approach, and has invented the size 15 jean, which bridges the gap between 14 and 16.
Jens, meanwhile, had been working with Kim on her shapewear line, Skims, since 2019. He is the CEO of the brand, which he co-founded with Kim and Emma, who is the chief product officer. Skims offers a range of shapewear, underwear, loungewear, and accessories, designed to fit and flatter diverse body types and skin tones. Skims has been praised for its innovative and inclusive products, such as the maternity collection, the cozy collection, and the solutionwear. Skims has also secured high-profile partnerships, such as the official underwear and loungewear provider for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, and the sponsor of the Innovation Award at the CFDA Awards.
Emma, Jens, and Kim also teamed up with Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen to launch Safely, a brand of plant-based cleaning and self-care products, in March 2021. Emma came up with the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she wanted products that would be safe for her family and the environment. Safely offers products such as hand soap, hand sanitizer, laundry detergent, glass cleaner, and candles, made with natural ingredients and scented with essential oils.
A Power Couple in Fashion and Business
Emma and Jens Grede are not only a married couple, but also a power couple in the fashion and business world. They have built a billion-dollar empire with Kim Kardashian, and have established themselves as leaders and innovators in their respective fields. They have also used their platforms and resources to support causes that they care about, such as the Fifteen Percent Pledge, an initiative that urges retailers to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands, of which Emma is the chairwoman. They have also been recognized for their achievements and influence, such as being named among the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company in 2020, and winning the first Innovation Award by Amazon Fashion for Skims at the CFDA Awards in 2021.
Emma and Jens Grede are an inspiring example of how passion, vision, and collaboration can lead to success and impact. They have shown that fashion can be more than just clothes, but also a way to empower, celebrate, and uplift people of all backgrounds and identities.