Since Kamala Harris was elected Vice President in 2020, her family has been in the spotlight—including her stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, who left a fashionable impression at Harris’s inauguration in a tartan Miu Miu coat.
Since then, Emhoff has graduated from Parsons School of Design with a major in fine arts (and a concentrated focus in apparel and textiles), signed a modeling contract with IMG, and made her Met Gala debut. She’s also the owner of Soft Hands, a knitwear brand and crafting club, and her first collection sold out within minutes.
Sometimes referred to as “The First Daughter of Bushwick”—the New York City neighborhood in which she lives—Emhoff learned how to knit from her mother Kerstin, who instilled Emhoff with a passion for the craft at a young age (six, to be exact). This year, she took a break from knitwear and instead exhibited knit paintings at Gotham, a dispensary in New York City.
That doesn’t mean Emhoff hasn’t served up some looks herself. Now that her stepmother Kamala is running for president, the budding fashionista has used her platform to show off a number of designer outfits, including some by up-and-coming artists.
At the 2024 DNC, she wore a sleeveless Helmut Lang scarf top and pleated pants, paired with a camo hunter cap that promoted Harris and Walz’s campaign. The next night, she opted for chic plaid suiting from Thom Browne, adding a playful touch with a black cookie bag from Puppets and Puppets.
For the last day of the DNC, which saw Emhoff make a speech about her “Momala,” she wore an off-the-shoulder gown made by TikToker and designer Joe Ando. The feminine frock included a baby blue asymmetric top and a white, drop-waist skirt that featured hand-ruched tulle. Emhoff finished off the look with a pair of tall white socks and black Mary Jane flats, adding a personal touch to the ensemble by crocheting a small flower onto one of the gown’s shoulder straps.
Though Emhoff is only 25, she’s already solidified herself as a fashion icon. In 2022, however, she told Harper’s Bazaar that these days, “it’s harder to feel iconic.” Though she admits she felt like a “boss bitch” when she was a kid, she added that “with the state of everything, there’s less moments where I’m like, wow, I’m doing something iconic, or I’m being the most iconic.” To get that feeling back, she said she tries to think of “little Ella” and what she would do (W.W.L.E.D?).
And as for living in the spotlight, Emhoff shared some words of wisdom. “My therapist gave me one of the best pieces of advice ever, which was ‘Compare and despair,’” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “It’s the idea of, if you compare yourself to people, you’re always going to feel this sense of emptiness, so kind of just focus on yourself, and then whatever anyone else is doing, they’re doing it. Doesn’t matter.”
By the looks of her growing knitwear empire and head-turning ensembles, Emhoff has already made a name for herself in the fashion world, and will continue to do so. While her stepmother hits the campaign trail, Emhoff seems to be hitting her own trail of sorts—although hers looks a bit more like a runway.
Maya Ernest is an editor who covers everything from the latest fashion news to features that investigate personal style, social media trends, and thoughtful consumption.
