| Ella Emhoff | |
| Birth Name: | Ella Rose Emhoff |
| Birth Date: | 29 May 1999 |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Parents: | Doug Emhoff (father) Kerstin Mackin (mother) |
| Relatives: | Kamala Harris (stepmother) |
| Education: | Parsons School of Design (BFA) |
Ella Rose Emhoff (born May 29 1999)[1] is an American artist and fashion designer. As the daughter of U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, she is a member of the Second Family of the United States.
Emhoff was born to Douglas Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer,[2] and Kerstin Emhoff (née Mackin), a film producer. She was named after the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.[3] Although her father is Jewish, a spokesperson for Emhoff said that Ella does not identify as Jewish, since Judaism is "not something she grew up with".[4] Doug Emhoff began practicing the religion when Ella and her older brother Cole were already grown and no longer living at home.[5] Her parents divorced in 2008, when she was 9 years old.[6] [7] In August 2014, when she was 15, her father married Kamala Harris, a lawyer then serving as Attorney General of California.[6] [8] Emhoff and her brother coined the term "Momala" for their stepmother.[3] Emhoff, whose family members belong to the Democratic Party, was raised around politics. She and her family, as supporters of same-sex marriage in California, were active in fighting against the 2008 California Proposition 8. In 2016, when she was 17, her stepmother was elected to the United States Senate, representing California.[9] In 2021, when she was 22, she became a member of the second family when her stepmother was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States.
In 2017, Emhoff graduated from Wildwood School, where she was a member of the swimming and basketball teams.[3] She was a student at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, where she majored in fine arts with a concentrated focus in apparel and textiles and graduated in 2021.
In 2014, Emhoff made a cameo in the music video for Bo Burnham's song "Repeat Stuff".
Emhoff designs jackets, hats, coats, and knitted shorts, which she sells from her Instagram account and her website.[10] She also sells ceramics, paintings, and drawings from her website.[11] [12]
In January 2021, Emhoff signed with IMG Models worldwide, an international modelling agency based in New York City.[13] [14] [15] She has gained attention from the BBC and the New York Times for having tattoos and not shaving her armpit hair.[16] The agency announced her contract on Twitter. Earlier, she was featured in an editorial for the independent fashion magazine Buffalo Zine.[13] [17] Viola, her modeling agent, signed her to his agency in September 2019.
Emhoff is a member of The 3% Movement, an organization focused on increasing the number of women creative directors in the United States.[18]
Emhoff lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and has been called "The First Daughter of Bushwick".[19] [20] Her family has homes in Brentwood, Los Angeles; South of Market, San Francisco; and West End, Washington, D.C.[21]
She is a supporter of LGBT rights, particularly as an advocate for the rights of transgender people. In 2020, she announced she would support the organization For the Gworls, a black, transgender-led collective that raises money to help black transgender people pay for rent, gender-affirming surgery, travel, and medical care.[12] [22]
Emhoff spoke in the broadcast of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in August 2020.[23] [24]
On January 20, 2021, Emhoff attended the 59th U.S. Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., where her stepmother was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States[25] [20] [26] [27] As of 2024, Emhoff is dating GQ fashion writer Sam Hine.[28] [29]
Emhoff received international media attention at the inauguration due to her outfits, including a dress she co-designed with Batsheva Hay, and a jewel-encrusted Miu Miu coat.[23] [13] [30] Vogue wrote that Emhoff's inauguration outfit "perfectly married her signature Brooklyn quirk with the solemnity of the occasion" and that Emhoff "wouldn't be hewing to any outdated notions of what a White House-adjacent young woman should dress like."[23] [31] After the inauguration, Emhoff's Instagram following increased from 50,000 followers to over 300,000 in less than a week.[23] [13] [32] Fashion retailer Lyst reported that, after footage of Emhoff went viral on Twitter and TikTok,[33] [34] Miu Miu saw a 455% increase in internet searches six hours after the inauguration.[35] She also received attention for the skirt, tie, and Thom Browne coat she wore to the National COVID-19 Memorial in Washington, D.C., the night before the inauguration.[13] [36]
In 2021 she founded Soft Hands, a company focused on exploring "opportunities in fashion, design, creative consulting and hosting events."[37] Her mother taught her how to knit at age six. In 2023, she debuted "Ella Emhoff Likes to Knit," a pop-up presentation at New York Fashion Week. In 2024, she exhibited knit paintings at Gotham, a gallery in New York City.