Kamala Harris’s step-daughter Ella Emhoff is a model, knitter, and her gateway to Gen Z
With a massive social media following, Ella Emhoff could be Kamala Harris’s key to younger voters. Here’s what you need to know about the art, activism and aesthetics of the 25-year-old who calls the vice president “Momala”.
A model, knitter and art-school graduate, Ella Emhoff calls Kamala Harris “Momala” and has more than 340,000 Instagram followers.
The 25-year-old step-daughter took the spotlight when she hit back at JD Vance’s comments about Ms Harris being a “childless cat lady”.
The remarks from 2021 about Democrats being “a bunch of childless cat ladies… miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made” resurfaced as Ms Harris took to the campaign trail.
Ella quickly waded in, posting on Instagram: “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?”
Cole, 29, and Ella, 25, are the children of second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who was previously married to film producer Kerstin Emhoff.
Ms Emhoff herself called Mr Vance’s comments “baseless” and said Ms Harris is “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present”.
Ella shared these comments, praising her mum for speaking out and adding: “I love my three parents.”
In a 2021 New York Times interview, she called her mum, dad and stepmother a “three-person parenting squad”.
They were supportive even when they didn’t understand her interests, she said: “With hair and tattoos and things like that, I think they’re all in the realm of like, ‘I don’t understand it, but I want you to be who you want to be’.”
It’s an attitude that could win Ms Harris fans among younger votes.
A fashion-forward potential first daughter
Her outfit at Joe Biden’s inauguration was perhaps the first time it was clear Ella was not cut from the same cloth as other politicians’ offspring.
She sent social media into a spin with her jewel-encrusted Miu Miu coat, oversized collar and dress designed for her by Batsheva Hay (the pair have since collaborated on a knitwear collection).
Speaking to Vogue alongside the designer shortly after the inauguration, she said there was “some anticipation” about what she, Jill Biden, Ms Harris and her niece Meena Harris were “going to put out there in terms of fashion”.
“Maybe that’s because we’re all women, or maybe it’s because we’ve had big outfits in the past, but I think people are definitely going to be paying more attention.”
She told Dazed she was aware of fashion from a young age and used to sneak into her “super fashionable” mum’s wardrobe: “I had the ability to explore my style from a really young age, and I feel really lucky to have been able to do that because it’s really helped me feel comfortable now when it comes to wearing what I want – with no regrets!”
‘Not the most generic-type model’
People were certainly paying attention when, shortly after the inauguration, she signed a deal with modelling agency IMG.
“All of my life, I had really low self-esteem and self-confidence, so this kind of felt like a way for me to take that back,” she told The Washington Post.
“I have body hair, I have tattoos. Like, that’s not crazy in the scheme of things today, but it is not what you’d consider, like, the most generic-type model.”
She made her catwalk debut for Proenza Schouler at the New York Fashion Show in February 2021 and returned to the runway for Maisie Wilen the following year.
She became the face of Stella McCartney’s Adidas collection, sitting front row at her catwalk show and wearing her designs to the Met Gala.
Speaking to Dazed about the collaboration and her modelling career, she said “the definition of what a model is has really changed in the last few years”.
“It’s not only about being someone who can wear whatever clothes a brand wants to put you in, it’s also about being someone who has a unique point of view or something to say, and using your platform in a way that’s powerful or beneficial somehow.”
Read more:
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‘A knitting diplomat’
Ella studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, and has gone on to focus on textiles and knitting.
In 2021, she launched Sofa Hands Knit Club, a community knitting club in New York.
It led to her being dubbed “a knitting diplomat” by Cultured magazine, which noted her “fierce attachment to the craft and contagious eye for the kooky”.
On her website, she describes herself as a multidisciplinary artist and her work includes knitted self-portraits.
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Politics and activism
Speaking to the New York Times in 2021, Ella described growing up being aware of politics and her family protesting against proposed laws in California that would have banned same-sex marriage.
She has supported trans rights on her Instagram page, fundraising for For The Gworls, which supports black transgender people with rent, medical bills and gender-affirming surgery.
Ella has also been involved in fundraising for relief efforts in Gaza.
