Ella Rose Emhoff (born May 29, 1999) is an American model, artist, and fashion designer. As the daughter of U.S. Second Gentleman

Doug Emhoff Douglas Craig Emhoff (born October 13, 1964) is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first-ever husband of a vice president, Em ...

and

stepdaughter A stepchild is the offspring of one's spouse, but not one's own offspring, either biologically or through adoption. Stepchildren can come into a family in a variety of ways. A stepchild may be the child of one's spouse from a previous relationshi ...

of U.S. Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

, she is a member of the

Second Family of the United States The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Early life

Emhoff was born to

Douglas Emhoff Douglas Craig Emhoff (born October 13, 1964) is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first-ever husband of a vice president, Em ...

, an entertainment lawyer, and

Kerstin Emhoff Kerstin Emhoff (née Mackin; born March 18, 1967) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of the production company Prettybird. Under her leadership the company's films have won Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards, and Cannes Lions, while she ...

(née Mackin), a film producer. She was named after the jazz singer

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. Although her father is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

descent, a spokesperson for Emhoff clarified that Ella does not identify as Jewish. She has an older brother, Cole. Her parents divorced in 2008. In August 2014, her father married

, a lawyer who was then serving as the

Attorney General of California The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...

. Emhoff and her brother coined the term "Momala" for their stepmother. Emhoff, whose family are members of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, was raised around politics. She and her family, as supporters of

same-sex marriage in California Same-sex marriage in California has been legal since June 28, 2013. The U.S. state first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16, 2008 as a result of the Supreme Court of California finding in the case of ''In re Marriage Cases ...

, were active in fighting against the

2008 California Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cour ...

. In 2016, her stepmother was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, representing California. In 2021, she became a member of the second family when her stepmother was sworn in as the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

. Emhoff graduated from

Wildwood School Wildwood School is an independent progressive K–12 school located in Los Angeles. Wildwood was founded as an elementary school in 1971, by a group of parents led by a young lawyer named Belle Mason. The secondary campus (middle and high schoo ...

, where she was a member of the swimming and basketball teams, in 2018. She was a student at the

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

in New York City, where she majored in fine arts with a concentrated focus in apparel and textiles, and she graduated in May 2021.

Career

In 2014, Emhoff made a cameo in the music video for

Bo Burnham Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born 1990) is an American comedian, musician, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His comedy work often combines musical, sketch, and stand-up elements with filmmaking. Following his success as one of the earliest ...

's song " Repeat Stuff". Emhoff designs jackets, hats, coats, and knitted shorts, which she sells from her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account and her website. She also sells ceramics, paintings, and drawings from her website. In January 2021, Emhoff was signed with

IMG Models IMG Models is an international modeling agency headquartered in New York City and with additional offices in London, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, and Sydney. It is a subsidiary of the talent management company International Management Group. The comp ...

worldwide, an international modelling agency based in New York City. She has gained attention from the BBC and the ''New York Times'' for having tattoos and refusing to shave her armpit hair. The agency announced her contract on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Earlier, she was featured in an editorial for the independent fashion magazine ''Buffalo Zine''. Viola, her modeling agent, signed her to his agency in September 2019. She is a member of The 3% Movement, an organization focused on increasing the number of women creative directors in the United States.

Personal life and public image

Kamala Harris and Ella Emhoff E1cSegEXIAAthfx (1)

210120-D-WD757-1323 (50861239076) (cropped)

Emhoff lives in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

and has been called "The First Daughter of Bushwick". Her family has homes in

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Los Angeles Westside, Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Sawtelle Veterans Home, Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disab ...

;

South of Market, San Francisco South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city's museums ...

; and West End, Washington, D.C. She is a supporter of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

, particularly as an advocate for the rights of

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people. In 2020, she announced she would support the organization For the Gworls, a black, transgender-led collective that fundraises money to help black transgender people pay for rent, gender affirming surgery, travel, and medical care. Emhoff spoke in the broadcast of the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

in August 2020. On January 20, 2021, Emhoff attended the 59th U.S. Presidential Inauguration in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where her stepmother was sworn in as the 49th

, Emhoff is dating '' GQ'' editor Sam Hine.

Fashion

Emhoff received international media attention at the inauguration due to her outfits, including a dress she co-designed with

Batsheva Hay Batsheva Hay is an American fashion designer. Early life and education Hay grew up in Queens, New York, in a secular Jewish household. She graduated from Stuyvesant High School. She was educated at Stanford and Georgetown. She has a B.A. fro ...

, and a jewel-encrusted

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Paris, France. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 by Miuccia Prada. The name ...

coat. ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' said that Emhoff's inauguration outfit "perfectly married her signature Brooklyn quirk with the solemnity of the occasion" and stated that " mhoffwouldn't be hewing to any outdated notions of what a White House-adjacent young woman should dress like." After the inauguration, Emhoff's

following increased from 50,000 followers to over 300,000 in less than a week. Fashion retailer Lyst reported that, after footage of Emhoff went viral on Twitter and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, Miu Miu saw a 455% increase in internet searches six hours after the inauguration. She had also received attention for her skirt, tie, and

Thom Browne Thom Browne (born September 27, 1965) is an American fashion designer. He is the founder and head of design for Thom Browne, a luxury fashion brand based in New York City. Browne debuted his womenswear collection in 2014. Early life and education ...

coat she wore to the National COVID-19 Memorial in Washington, D.C., the night before the inauguration.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emhoff, Ella 1999 births Activists from Los Angeles American fashion designers American people of Jewish descent American people of Swedish descent American women fashion designers Artists from Los Angeles California Democrats Children of vice presidents of the United States Daughters of national leaders Female models from California Harris family IMG Models models American LGBT rights activists Living people Models from Los Angeles Parsons School of Design alumni People from Brentwood, Los Angeles