Who is Ella Emhoff?
This is the question on everyone’s lips. She has gone from relative obscurity to major popularity in the blink of an eye.
Ella is the daughter of Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff and the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris. That means we are going to see her at more and more major political events. But all it took was the inauguration of Joe Biden as president for Ella to take the internet by storm.
What’s the secret to her popularity? Here’s everything you need to know about Ella Emhoff.
Fashion icon
Ella Emhoff previously made some serious waves on Twitter. But she didn’t really achieve worldwide fame until she attended Joe Biden’s inauguration.
She knew the world would be watching what she wore. And she didn’t disappoint: she rocked a Miu Miu plaid coat and a Batsheva maroon dress that just couldn’t stop turning our heads.
As a student of the prestigious Parsons School of Design (where Project Runway filmed for years), Emhoff knows all about fashion. “How many times do you prepare yourself to attend an inauguration?” she told Vogue. “This momentous of an event deserves a momentous outfit.”
Mission accomplished! Emhoff’s striking style had her quickly declared a fashion icon. And one week after making waves at the inauguration, she landed a lucrative modeling contract with IMG models.
RELATED: The Unknown Truth of Kamala Harris’s Husband Doug Emhoff
Emerging artist
Thanks to the inauguration ceremony, we already knew Emhoff understands fashion inside and out. But did you know she is also an artist?
On Instagram, she’s shared her paintings of self-portraits, food, and surreal “baby candles.”
And while this 21-year-old student is still perfecting her craft, she is already a hit. Emhoff has been selling her paintings online, and she is more in demand now than ever before.
While her paintings are nice, they can’t hold a candle to her real passion: designing knitwear!
Knitwear fashion designer
Some people might be skeptical of dubbing Emhoff a fashion icon based solely on her inauguration ensemble. But another reason Emhoff is a genuine fashion icon is that she is already an accomplished fashion designer, focusing on knitwear. And she’s seeing success with her designs while still a senior at Parsons.
Emhoff’s knitting skills are diverse. She’s knitted everything from bikini tops and pants to more playful items like bunny ears. In January, she revealed that a knit Tweety Bird handbag and a striped dress she designed will be sold in malls soon.
And in February, she released a mini knitwear collection. The collection included five items priced between $160 and $320: two sweater vests, a purse, a long sleeveless dress and a pair of shorts. Emhoff knitted just one of each item to sell on the platform Mall. The entire collection quickly sold out, with three items gone within 30 minutes.
RELATED: The Amazing Transformation of Kamala Harris
Generous activist
Some of Emhoff’s critics have zeroed in on her online sales of clothing. To cynics, she is using her connection to the vice president to quickly build up her brand.
However, Emhofff is much more interested in helping others with her craft. For example, she takes some of her knitting creations such as pants and raffles them off on social media. And the proceeds from that raffle go to a very good cause.
Specifically, the proceeds go to For the Gworls, which is a collective dedicated to improving lives for Black, transgendered people. For such people, the collective helps pay for trans-related surgery and medical bills as well as things like help with rent payments.
And thanks to her social media popularity, Emhoff can make a big difference.
TikTok cameo
Most of the world discovered Ella Emhoff from her appearance at Biden’s inauguration. But if you’re a fan of TikTok, you might have seen Emhoff make a splash back in November 2020.
That was when she appeared on a video for her relative (and Kamala Harris’s niece) Meena Harris. In the video, Emhoff tries the Filet-O-Fish from McDonald’s for the very first time.
@meena Ella Emhoff is the main character (who just tried Filet-O-Fish for the first time EVER) #biden2020 ♬ positions – Ariana Grande
As of this writing, that video has over 400,000 likes. And while Emhoff hasn’t decided to personally take over TikTok (at least, not yet), this video helped establish her as a TikTok star in a time where influence is its own form of currency.
RELATED: The Sad Truth About Being a TikTok Star
Unique ink
Emhoff’s bold sense of style goes beyond clothing. Underneath her eye-catching ensembles, this rising star is actually sporting several unique tattoos!
Most of her tattoos are located on her arms (which are typically hidden by what she wears). One tattoo features a cow while another features a vase with flowers. Oh, and she’s got a birthday cake tattoo for good measure.
Our favorite tattoo, though, is one of eggs and bacon on a plate in the shape of a smiley face. It shows that for all of her newfound fame and influence, Emhoff has a fun sense of humor. But that’s not nearly surprising as the next fact!
Athletic background
There is a persistent stereotype that most artistic kids aren’t very athletic (and vice versa). But this is just one more stereotype that Emhoff quietly demolished while she was growing up.
Before she went to the Parsons School of Design in New York, Emhoff attended Wildwood High School in California. There, she played basketball and was also a member of the high school swim team.
Fashion, art, and athletics… it really seems like there is nothing Ella Emhoff can’t do!
RELATED: The Unknown Truth of Kamala Harris