Emma Grede on Building Skims Into a $5 Billion Brand

Emma Grede built her reputation by identifying gaps in women’s apparel that major retailers ignored. As co-founder and chief product officer of Skims, the shapewear company now valued at $5 billion, she has turned overlooked consumer needs into a dominant market position without relying on traditional fashion industry pathways.

Speaking Tuesday at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara, California, the 44-year-old entrepreneur outlined how she approaches product development: not through radical invention, but through precise, incremental improvements to existing categories. She described her method as making products “1% better” by paying closer attention to execution than competitors do.

That philosophy drove some of Skims’ most discussed releases. A push-up bra featuring a raised nipple detail drew immediate attention for appearing provocative when it launched. Grede explained the design was engineered specifically for women who had undergone breast reconstruction surgery following mastectomies, addressing a functional need that mainstream lingerie brands had bypassed entirely. Other products followed similar logic. Basic black thongs were developed to satisfy persistent demand from consumers unable to find reliable versions elsewhere, while items like a face sculpt wrap were designed to establish and capture entirely new retail categories rather than compete within saturated ones.

Skims, co-founded in 2019 alongside Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, reached its current valuation by expanding far beyond its original shapewear focus. The brand moved aggressively into loungewear, intimates, swimwear, and men’s apparel, securing shelf space at Nordstrom and international retailers while maintaining a direct-to-consumer digital operation that generates the bulk of its revenue. Emma Grede also serves as a founding partner at Good American, the size-inclusive denim brand she launched with Khloé Kardashian in 2016, which established her early credibility in scaling apparel startups focused on underserved demographics.

Her trajectory diverges sharply from the typical executive profile in luxury or mass-market fashion. Raised by a single mother in East London, Grede never attended college. She entered the industry through marketing and talent management before transitioning into brand building and equity ownership, a shift that remains rare for executives without formal business or design degrees.

Beyond Skims, Grede recently expanded her portfolio by founding Off Season, a luxury sports-fashion label created with designer Kristin Juszczyk. The venture targets the intersection of high-end apparel and professional athletics, a sector gaining momentum as leagues like the NFL increasingly license fashion collaborations.

Grede has formalized her operational approach in her book, Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life. During her conversation with Fortune’s Most Powerful Women editorial director Ellie Austin, she criticized the prevailing tone of advice directed at female entrepreneurs, arguing that much of women’s media prioritizes comfort over practical instruction. She positioned herself strictly as an operator focused on outcomes, emphasizing that she openly discusses the personal sacrifices and trade-offs required to run multiple companies simultaneously rather than offering aspirational messaging.

“I don’t second guess myself,” Grede told the audience. “I think a lot of us have that skill, but we talk ourselves out of it… One of the most expensive habits that we have as women is waiting until we’re ready.”

Skims continues to scale its physical retail footprint and international distribution networks heading into late 2026, following a funding round last year that cemented its status among the highest-valued privately held apparel companies globally.