Emma Grede Says Trusting Her Gut Built Skims and Off Season
At Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, Emma Grede said she does not second-guess her intuition and has learned from repeated failures. The Skims cofounder and chief product officer described how unexpected products can serve overlooked needs or create new markets. She also discussed her book and her view that practical advice for women should focus on results rather than comfort.
Grede, 44, grew up in East London with a single mother and did not attend college. She now serves as cofounder and chief product officer of Skims, a shapewear business valued at $5 billion, and has invested in fashion while launching Off Season, a luxury sports-fashion label, with Kristin Juszczyk.
At the Santa Barbara summit, she told Fortune’s Ellie Austin that intuition shaped Skims releases. A push-up bra with raised nipple detail, first viewed as provocative, was designed to support women after mastectomy reconstruction, she said. Other items, such as a face sculpt wrap, aim to establish a new market. Her book, Start With Yourself, argues for practical, results-focused guidance over comforting messages.
Grede’s visibility could influence how women entrepreneurs approach risk, intuition, and product design. Her emphasis on results over reassurance may resonate with founders who feel pressure to wait for perfect readiness. Consumers with overlooked needs, including women recovering from mastectomy surgery, may see more products designed for them. At the same time, her success story may oversimplify the role of failure and resources, so its broader impact likely depends on how audiences interpret her advice.