Emma Grede at Selfridges: Start With Yourself
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Complicated Co attended a business and fashion event at Selfridges London, where entrepreneur Emma Grede spoke about her new book "Start With Yourself".
Emma Grede is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in fashion today. As co-founder of Good American and a partner in SKIMS, she has built brands that have changed the conversation around inclusivity, size, and what fashion is actually for. Her book, "Start With Yourself", is a call to action, not just for aspiring entrepreneurs, but for anyone who has ever let self-doubt get in the way of building something meaningful.
We were there. And we left with a lot to think about.
What Emma Said That Stayed With Us
There were many moments throughout the event that resonated deeply — but one line in particular has stayed with us since.
"You're going to be successful. You make decisions based on your customers' feedback."
It sounds simple. But in a world full of noise, data, trends, and opinions, the act of genuinely listening to your customers and building from that place is rarer than it should be.
At Complicated Co., that's always been our approach. Our tees exist because people needed them. The mental load, the overstimulation, the desire to go offline — these aren't brand concepts we invented. They're feelings our community told us they were experiencing. We just gave them a voice.
What Emma Grede and Complicated Co. Have in Common
Emma Grede has spoken openly about building brands with purpose — brands that reflect real people's lives, not an idealised version of them.
That's exactly what we're trying to do.
As an ethical clothing brand in the UK, we don't design around trends or seasons. We design around truth. Around the real, complicated, occasionally overwhelming experience of being a person in 2026.
Emma's work at Good American particularly around size inclusivity is a reminder that fashion has the power to either exclude or include. We choose inclusion. Every time.
On Slow Fashion and Sustainable Brands
The event at Selfridges also touched on the growing conversation around sustainable fashion brands in the UK and what it actually means to build a brand that lasts.
Fast fashion is easy to launch and hard to sustain. Slow fashion requires patience, purpose, and a genuine belief that quality matters more than volume.
Emma Grede's brands have always prioritised longevity over trend-chasing. So do we. Every Complicated Co. tee is made to last — from the organic cotton it's made from to the statement it carries. We'd rather you buy one tee you wear for three years than five you wear once.
Start With Yourself
The title of Emma's book is, in many ways, the foundation of everything we do at Complicated Co.
Before you can build something meaningful, you have to know what you stand for. Before you can create a brand with purpose, you have to understand your own.
We started with ourselves. With the real, messy, overstimulated, complicated truth of what it feels like to be a woman building a business in modern Britain. And we built from there.
That's the only way we know how to do it.
