The Kardashian-Jenner clan’s business venture successes are numerous at this point. Between the billion-dollar Skims and the continuously growing Good American, the family has now had multiple major fashion successes. That’s been thanks, in part, to partnerships with the serial entrepreneur couple of Emma and Jens Grede, who co-founded both brands.
Now, the Gredes are hoping to make magic happen again with the launch of Kylie Jenner’s fashion brand, Khy. The Wall Street Journal confirmed that the Gredes are involved with the brand which launched its first drop on Wednesday.
The Gredes, who are also behind non-Kardashian brands like Frame and the Tom Brady-founded Brady, have had a run of successes with their brands. Now-11-year-old Frame grew its revenue by almost 50% between 2019 and 2022. Good American reached almost $200 million in revenue as of last year. And Skims, easily the biggest success in the Gredes’ portfolio, is valued at $4 billion and may even go public sometime soon.
But Khy, despite having the backing of the Gredes as well as the face of an ultra-famous celebrity behind it, has already hit some speedbumps. Before the first collection actually dropped, the designer and former visual director for Yeezy, Betsy Johnson, publicly accused Jenner of stealing designs from her for Khy. Johnson alleged that she had sent Jenner and her team images and concepts for her label Products months before Khy revealed similar products.
The brand has also received criticism across social media for the look and price of the products, with many comparing Khy unfavorably to other fast fashion products from brands like Shein or those sold on Amazon. Representatives from Khy did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
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The Gredes themselves are also not without a few misses in their portfolio. While Skims and Good American have taken off, Brady has seemed to languish compared to its more successful sister brands.
A common problem with celebrity brands is that they often end up indelibly tied to the celebrity that founded them, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at consultancy GlobalData. While brands like Skims, Savage x Fenty and Rare Beauty have been able to successfully establish themselves as legitimate brands with credibility rather than celebrity vanity projects, not all are able to do so.
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“Celebrity-driven brands can be a blessing, but it can also be hard to build an identity and credibility which is separate from the big name,” Saunders said.
