Ella Emhoff became an overnight style sensation thanks to her chic look on Inauguration Day, and she reflected on her sudden fame in a new episode of Good Morning Vogue.
“The past month’s been pretty crazy. I realized it was going to affect everyone in my life, and you guys are the closest ones to me,” she said, chatting with two of her friends in their living room in New York City. “It’s all been so fast.”
Emhoff, 21, the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, went viral in January when she wore a plaid, jewel-embellished Miu Miu coat on Inauguration Day.
At the time, she and her friends had no idea how that one fashion choice would change her life.
“I remember a few days before the inauguration, we were talking about what you were going to wear and we were very excited,” Emhoff’s friend said in the Vogue video. “I was joking that you were going to become a style icon.”
All jokes aside, that’s basically what happened: within weeks of the inauguration, Emhoff landed a contract with IMG Models, an agency representing the likes of Ashley Graham and Gigi Hadid, and last month, she made her modeling debut, walking the runway for Proenza Schouler at New York Fashion Week.
“I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting this. I think life really did a 180,” Emhoff said.
Emhoff, who studies at Parsons School of Design in New York City, also recently landed a knitwear collaboration with Batsheva Hay, who designed the maroon dress Emhoff wore beneath her Miu Miu coat for the inauguration.
“It’s so weird because I’ve followed her for a really long time, and I was thinking about what to wear for the inauguration, and I got to meet her on Zoom,” Emhoff said.
In Vogue’s video, Emhoff met up with Hay in her studio, and they discussed possible items for their new collaboration, which will likely incorporate their shared playful, quirky design sensibilities, including Emhoff’s fondness for colorful knitwear.
Hardly more than a month after bursting onto the scene with her Inauguration Day look, this style icon is clearly just getting started!