THERE'S a new Dragon in the Den - and she's a firebrand to be reckoned with.
Emma Grede, 41, will join resident dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies, Steven Bartlett and Touker Suleyman on tonight's show as its first female guest judge.
The east London-born entrepreneur, worth a reported £282million, ranks in Forbes’ list of wealthiest self-made women and works closely with the Kardashians on their fashion empires, including Kim's brand SKIMS.
Emma's remarkable rise to success saw her start out working a paper round and flogging counterfeit T-shirts at school, using the money to buy fashion magazines that fuelled her dreams.
Jack Izzard, CEO of Rhizome Media, told The Sun: “Getting Emma on tonight’s show is a huge coup for the Dragons’ Den producers.
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“While not yet a household name in the UK, she’s an A-list entrepreneur and an embodiment of everything the show should be about – a great idea and buckets of hard work.
“Emma isn’t afraid to use her own glamorous lifestyle as part of her brand, and her Instagram feed is sprinkled with plenty of celebrity stardust, but she never pretends that success is easy.
“Her message that a great idea is a good start, but that it’s nothing without hard graft, self-belief and the willingness to pick yourself up whenever you get knocked back, is just what the hopefuls facing the Dragons need to hear.”
Speaking about her upcoming appearance, Emma told The Times: "It’s so funny because when you’re sitting next to Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden, it’s kind of crazy.
"It’s more than me turning up on TV, it’s about shining a light and being an example.
"For me they’re so familiar. It was cool. I loved doing something my nan could watch."
Humble beginnings
Now a business mogul worth millions, Emma's meteoric rise was inspired by the hard work of her mum - who raised her four daughters on her own while holding down a job.
"I really admired the fact that she would put on a suit and go to work," Emma said. "It was a big, big thing for me to see growing up."
Aged 12, Emma juggled her paper round in Plaistow with washing cars and manning the tills at the local corner shop.
In secondary school she began selling counterfeit T-shirts to her teachers, joking: "I was always trying to find a way to make a buck."
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I really admired the fact that Mum would put on a suit and go to work. It was a big, big thing for me to see growing up
Emma Grede
Emma later enrolled at the London College of Fashion to study business, supporting herself with a job at Karen Millen, but struggled to cope, which she put down to being "super dyslexic".
She managed to land an internship at Gucci and placements at PR companies, and helped organise runway shows for London Fashion Week.
Aged 24, Emma launched her own firm, Independent Talent Brand, and spent the next decade growing the business, which brought together major brands and celebrities including Katy Perry.
Emma said: "I’ve always been unbelievably ambitious. I get a lot of stuff done because I really value myself and my goals. And I don’t think it’s any different to how I behaved and how I’ve worked since I was 15."
Teaming up with the Kardashians
She sold the business to marketing firm Rogers & Cowen in 2018 and turned her energy towards her ventures with the Kardashians, after meeting Kris Jenner at Paris Fashion Week in 2013.
“Kris was honest with me early on,” Emma told Elle. “She said, ‘I am looking for opportunities for my girls to have meaningful participation in what they do. This is not about just taking another endorsement for them – we’re past that’."
Emma then teamed up with Khloe Kardashian and together they launched the body positive jean brand Good American in 2016.
The company received $1m worth of orders on its first day of trading, and in 2017 Emma moved to Los Angeles with her Swedish husband, fellow entrepreneur Jens, to work more closely with the Kardashian clan.
Emma said teaming up with Khloe was incredible: "Like any partners, we play different roles and understand each other’s strengths. More than anything our partnership is based on mutual respect and admiration. That’s just the way it has always been."
Jack told The Sun: "Emma understood that the power of the Kardashian brand lay in its ability to be more than just another celebrity endorsement – with the Kardashians, the person and the product are one.
"Emma’s pitch to Kris to create a new denim brand, for which Khloe Kardashian would be the face – and the behind – was a moment of genius.
"But Good American’s success was always about more than just the Kardashian connection. It has carefully cultivated an image of inclusivity and not being preachy.
Good American’s success was always about more than just the Kardashian connection. It has carefully cultivated an image of inclusivity and not being preachy
Jack Izzard, CEO of Rhizome Media
"While many fashion brands pay lip service to being ‘for everyone’, Good American has models of all sizes front and centre on its website and its best-selling jeans are available in sizes up to 36."
Two laters later Kim Kardashian approached Emma to help launch her shapewear business SKIMS, now worth an estimated $4billion.
Jens - who helped American footballer Tom Brady launch his clothing line - is SKIMS' CEO and holds a majority stake in the business, while Emma is a founding partner, working on design, production, planning and merchandising.
Emma's other Kardashian ventures include being a co-founder of Kris Jenner’s plant-powered cleaning brand Safely, and she's involved in Kylie Jenner’s brand Khy.
Power couple
Emma and Jens have been together 15 years and share four children - Grey, Lola, Lake and Rafferty.
Jens is the co-founder of the cult denim brand Frame, which he runs with the Mr Porter co-founder Erik Torstensson.
The power couple’s assets portfolio has not been made public, however they own Brad Pitt’s former Malibu holiday home, worth more than $45m, and a mansion in the celebrity suburb Bel Air.
Dragons' Den isn't Emma's first foray into TV - in 2021 she was invited as a guest judge on Shark Tank, the US equivalent.
She told Forbes: "When I came to America I would be asked a lot of questions about being a black woman in business and honestly that was never really my reality or experience in Europe... I felt that with my position and what I’ve been able to build for myself and where I am right now in my life that the right thing to do would be to leverage that."
Emma said being on Dragons' Den "allows people to dream".
"I love that show because you see people from all walks of life with all types of products," she told The Times.
"It comes from a place of passion and interest. And they’re coming out here saying, ‘All I need is a chance.’
"We all need that, and that one person who says, ‘I believe that you’ve got what it takes'."
We all need that, and that one person who says, ‘I believe that you’ve got what it takes'
Emma Grede
Emma - whose nan still lives in Canvey Island, Essex - has never forgotten her roots and runs mentorship programmes to help other budding entrepreneurs.
She's also chairwoman of the 15 Percent Pledge, which asks retailers to reserve at least 15 per cent of shelf space for black-owned businesses.
“It sounds corny, but we’ve made some money now and to be able to pass on what I’ve learnt in the seven or eight years of Good American and Skims is crucial," she said.
And she has no intention of slowing down.
"I’ve been unashamedly clear about the need to make money," she said.
"It’s just that simple. I wanted to do business in a way that makes an impact on a lot of people. I’ll work until I die."
Dragons’ Den is on BBC One on Thursday evenings at 8pm and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
