THE MASTERMIND

Emma Grede, the quiet power source behind two of fashions most viral success stories, steps into the spotlight.

- Leah Faye Cooper

As co-founder and CEO of Good American and founding partner of Skims, Emma Grede is willing to do a lot for the Kardashian-powered brands. Uproot her family from London to L.A.? Yes. Obsess over the fit of a garment until it’s perfect? Absolutely. Hop on Zoom for this interview, minutes after someone in her household tests positive for COVID and everyone is scrambling to follow safety protocols? Not a problem. But appear in an ad campaign for Good American’s bodysuit range or flood her Instagram feed with selfies in a Skims bralette? Don’t hold your breath.

“I’m just not that girl,” Grede says. “I can’t do that stuff. And I think that’s probably one of the reasons my partnerships with the girls work out so well because they do that. I never think about myself as a face of the brands—I’m the brain of the brands.” How that came to be is a story that starts in East London’s Plaistow neighborhood, where Grede was raised by a single mother alongside three sisters.