MarieClaire.com: One year after debuting Good Mama denim, Khloé Kardashian and Emma Grede have launched Maternity Performance, a new extension of their activewear line that focuses on mothers-to-be and new moms. The Good American co-founders felt that maternity performance was a natural progression in their lineup—and that their offerings fill a big hole in the market.
“When I was pregnant I definitely felt like what was offered was just a few pieces and they weren’t very comfortable; they weren’t cute at all,” says Khloé Kardashian. Offering comfort, style, and a range of options was important to her. “We don’t tell our consumer what they should be wearing. We don’t give them like three pieces. We allow them to have a good range of stuff. And they can pick if they want to be, you know, a little more conservative or if they still want to be sexy or whatever, it’s up to the consumer to decide. So we wanted to create more options that you can wear either if you are just relaxing at home or if you want to work out, you still get the same support. You know, our goal is really to listen to our customers and just to be inclusive and what we produce.”
MarieClaire.com spoke to Kardashian and Grede a few days ahead of the launch to talk about their new products, and the advice they’d give women who are trying to get back into a workout routine after having a baby.
What was the most important factor for you when you were designing Maternity Performance?
Kardashian: I will say definitely I had no idea even about this maternity world or the lack thereof until I got pregnant. I definitely think comfort and functionality are the two biggest things. I would say comfort more than functionality because for me, what I was offered were items I would never wear in my real life. And I worked out my entire pregnancy and even if I wasn’t working out, you just want to be in leggings anyway because you just are so uncomfortable towards the very end. And that’s also what made us create our denim because I never found any denim that I was comfortable in. And of course our prototypes I was wearing throughout my pregnancy—we didn’t finish it until the end. But I was able to wear it during my postpartum stage, which is great.
But I love that with our performance, everything is seamless. You don’t want seams in certain places that they shouldn’t be. Nobody wants camel-toe and all that kind of stuff. So we try to do things really seamless–you also don’t want a bunch of lines and fabric suffocating your tummy, you want things to be protected and make you feel secure, but not anything that’s too suffocating and restricting. I know with me, I felt already kind of suffocated within my own body. That’s something else. I didn’t want it to feel like an extra layer of skin. I just wanted it to feel like comfortable, stretchy fabric. But that was also cute.
And our sports bras are sports bra, but they could also be nursing bras as well. So those are really easy, especially when you’re a mom and multitasking and your baby’s screaming and you just need to breastfeed. Those very easy; they’re very functional and that was something that was really important to me as well.
Grede: For me, it was how do we make something super comfortable, first and foremost. But then, you’re in this time of your life where your body’s changing, quite literally by the day, and you also want to look really cute.
But consistency is key. So even if you’re just going on a walk, just doing it consistently and always pushing yourself a little more with each week. Just trying to gradually build that endurance. But I’m someone who likes just to do things slow as long as you’re consistent because I don’t really believe in big diet fads or I’m not trying to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. I don’t try to do anything too crazy like that. I just want a lifestyle rather than a moment in time.
Do you have any advice for someone who’s trying to get back to working out after having a baby or might be struggling to regain her body confidence?
Kardashian: That was definitely something I went through. It sucks because with social media, it could be such a

Khloe Kardashian Shows Off Bare Stomach 5 Weeks After Baby – and Claps Back at Haters
Credit: Khloe Kardashian/Snapchat
great tool to give you information and to help you, but you also do a lot of comparing yourself to others. And like I said earlier, every human body is different and we have to do what’s best for us and also our living environment. Like if some people have help, it’s probably easier for them to go work out. And if some people don’t, it’s just not. But I waited until I was sadly like excited to work out. I was really looking forward to it. And I did 30 minutes a day for the first week just to get back into it. And I was really excited. I was like, Okay, now this week I’m going to go to 45 minutes. And it was more exciting rather than daunting and God, I have to work out today. And it was just doing little things.
When True was napping that’s what I would do it, and I would just go downstairs and do house workouts. I wasn’t having to commute far. You have to ease yourself back into it. Getting back into routine is probably the hardest part. I do think it’s mind over matter. But once I started noticing some changes, it really made me feel good. And setting small goals for yourself. But you do have to know that you have to be kind to yourself. You just had a baby, you’re taking care of the baby. For me, breastfeeding was really hard. So there’s a lot going on and the hormones and everything is a whole different thing. Pregnancy takes a toll on yourself and I think just doing little by little, it will help mentally you feel better too.
Does what you’re wearing to work out contribute to your confidence level?
I feel like you know, I used to be a lot bigger without being pregnant. Just my weight was a lot bigger and I think even that’s one reason why we started this. The whole idea of the brand and having size inclusivity. I used to be a size 12 or 14 and when I was, I wasn’t offered cute clothes in a size 12 or 14. I was offered whatever the scraps they wanted to give me and I thought, don’t tell the consumer what they want to buy, just because I’m a 12 or 14. I was really confident, probably more confident than I can be at times now. And I wanted to be in sexy clothes. I wanted to be in bodycon stuff. And so I just feel like that was never offered to me.
That’s one reason Good American came to fruition. But then with maternity, too, when I was pregnant and looking for workout clothes. There were more baggy options—nothing was tight as well. And I looked better showing off my tummy. I didn’t want people to think, Is she pregnant? Is she not pregnant? Like you’re kind of afraid to talk about that or to ask if you are or not. So with me, I liked being in tighter clothes. So with our maternity, we offer bike shorts and sports bras and cute trendy leggings and it’s not going to be just a couple of scrap pieces that we’re dictating how everybody should wear them. We’re going to have a good variety of pieces. I really do love from the line.
We have great sports bras that function as nursing bras as well. I think that’s a key piece because I never had the problem of having big breasts before my pregnancy and so I didn’t realize how much support big boobs really need and when you’re breastfeeding, it’s not a fun feeling. At least for me it’s not. And so it felt good to be that supported and I love how easy these nursing bras are on. You’re multitasking, you’re holding a baby and the baby’s crying and blah, blah, blah. It’s just refreshing to know you just unsnap your bra. It’s just, it’s really easy. I think you have to play with it to understand the difference in how easy it is. But I also love the high-waisted bike shorts from the performance collection. They’re supportive and I love the compression and you don’t feel suffocated in them. It feels just right.