Few views are more typically Los Angeles than the Hollywood sign, the hills, the circular Capitol Records building and a towering Skims billboard.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a scene that Emma Grede, the London-born fashion mogul who is Skims\u2019 co-founder and chief product officer, sees from her desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the most Hollywood view you could imagine,\u201d she tells Stellar of the Californian landmarks and pride-of-place ad for Skims, the multibillion-dollar brand she launched with Kim Kardashian in 2019.<\/p>\n
The shapewear and clothing line is at the centre of Grede\u2019s sprawling business portfolio, with fashion brand Good American, co-founded with Khlo\u00e9 Kardashian in 2016, and Frame, the denim brand run by her husband Jens, based out of another Beverly Hills building. <\/p>\n
(The Skims empire also includes NikeSKIMS, the athleisure offshoot which recently launched in Australia.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI split my time,\u201d she explains. \u201cI spend probably four days a week in the Skims office. That\u2019s where my studio is for Aspire, my podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I go down to the Beverly Hills office, which is on my way home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Skims, the aesthetic of Grede\u2019s workspaces is clean and minimal \u201cbecause naturally, when you have an apparel-based business, it\u2019s messy. It\u2019s full of fabric, full of samples, we do everything in-house\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we have technicians and pattern cutters \u2013 there\u2019s a lot happening. We also have our own atelier at Good American; we\u2019re making things in the office.\u201d<\/p>\n
With an estimated net worth of US $400 million, the 43-year-old is a powerhouse of fashion. She and Jens \u2013 a co-founder and chief executive of Skims \u2013 relocated to California in 2017, and the couple and their four children split their time between their homes in Bel-Air and Malibu.<\/p>\n
\u201cLA is one of those places that you do miss \u2026 but equally you have to get out of LA,\u201d she says of the family\u2019s coastal home in California\u2019s Santa Monica region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spend a lot of the time on the beach in Malibu. As an English girl, it\u2019s a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
In between building her fashion empire, Grede has written her debut book, Start With Yourself: A New Vision For Work & Life.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part memoir, part how-to guide for women in business, yet despite its subject matter, she insists she doesn\u2019t think of herself as a role model. \u201cNever, ever,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth of it is, I do what pleases me. You can\u2019t be a people pleaser and a leader. I never think it\u2019s my business to try to conform to something to make people think well of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very aware that \u2026 specifically for young women, they might find what I do aspirational and helpful for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m very much [thinking]: what is going to work for me?<\/p>\n
\u201cI never want to dispel myths about ease or conformity \u2013 or [imply] this stuff just magically happens because I manifested it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of that\u2019s true for me. I\u2019ve had a job since I was 12. An exceptional life comes with an exceptional amount of trade-offs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018MAKE IT A REALITY\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a work ethic shared by Grede\u2019s most famous business partner. In a previous interview with Stellar, Kim Kardashian spoke about how she\u2019d \u201clearnt a lot on the way from mistakes that have been made\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be willing to be OK with making mistakes, you have to learn things on your own, no matter what people tell you. Nothing is going to be perfect,\u201d Kardashian told this writer. <\/p>\n
While the public might expect a reality-show style dynamic, the working relationship between the business partners is more traditional. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the chief product officer, so my job is working across design, merch and planning,\u201d Grede says. <\/p>\n
\u201cKim is the creative director. My job is to take whatever it is that she can imagine \u2013 and make it a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you can imagine that\u2019s a very kind of intense and direct working relationship as it is with any two executives in the company,\u201d Grede adds. \u201cI think that people imagine that it works kind of differently. And the reality is, it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the brand\u2019s success comes down to execution. \u201c[Kim] has a very, very strong sense of what she wants for her business and I make sure that happens,\u201d Grede says. Yet she also acknowledges that even the sharpest corporate strategy requires timing and cultural resonance to scale to a fashion behemoth such as Skims or Good American. <\/p>\n
\u201cGood American was really successful because it was this turning point around what body positivity actually meant,\u201d she tells Stellar of its launch almost a decade ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the best plans in business need some other magic in the culture to attach to them, so that they can blow up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t plan those types of things; otherwise, there would be many, many more Skims.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most poignant lesson in Grede\u2019s debut book is when she writes, \u201cI refuse to be afraid of anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Stellar asks how she handles fear, she explains: \u201cAmbition actually requires discomfort. And if you want to make a lot of money and you want to be paid what you deserve, that\u2019s going to require some audacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAudacity is self-advocating, knowing your worth, and going after it without being ashamed,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen have been socially conditioned to avoid the exact behaviours that lead to wealth and opportunities and leadership and visibility. I want to make sure that the lies that we\u2019ve been sold about these things are taken away.\u201d <\/p>\n
Start With Yourself: A New Vision For Work & Life by Emma Grede ($34.99, Simon & Schuster) is out now.<\/p>\n