Before Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021, became the 49th vice president of the United States, few had heard of Ella Emhoff. Ella Emhoff is Kamala’s stepdaughter, and in line with the increased commotion surrounding Kamala, the world’s eyes have suddenly turned to Ella Emhoff as well.
Ella was born on May 29, 1999 and is the daughter of the celebrity lawyer Douglas Emhoff and the film producer Kerstin Emhoff.
Ella Emhoff and Doug Emhoff. Image source: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogas/TT Bild
When Ella was nine years old in 2008, Douglas and Kerstin divorced, and a few years later Kamala entered Ella’s life. In 2013, Douglas and Kamala were set up on a blind date, they got engaged shortly after and married on August 22, 2014.
On social media, Doug paid tribute to his wife Kamala on her birthday in 2020.
“Blind date, love at first sight, wedding, family and an incomparable life together. Through it all, no matter what, she is ALWAYS there for me and our family without hesitation,” he wrote at the time, reports People.
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This is Ella Emhoff
Ella became really known to the outside world when Joe Biden was sworn in as president, and Kamala then as vice president. One of the talking points from the big day was the then unknown Ella’s outfit. She wore a coat from Miu Miu with sequins on the shoulders, which was seriously redefined and overnight Ella had become a fashion icon.
Ella Enhoff in the Miu Miu coat that made her famous worldwide. Image source: Stella Pictures.
In the same vein, things began to unravel for Ella on several levels – she got a modeling contract for IMG Models and started dating the journalist Sam Hine on the fashion magazine GQ. The modeling career has flourished, Ella has walked shows for, among others, Balenciaga, Miu Miu and Proenza and she has also been the face of Adidas by Stella McCartney. She was invited to the Met Gala.
Ella Emhoff at the Met Gala. Image source: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/TT ImageElla Emhoff and boyfriend Sam Hine. Image source: Stella Pictures.
Ella has always loved fashion, but growing up she had low self-confidence and low self-esteem, she has said. Nor did she see herself as the “classic” model.
– I have body hair, I have tattoos. It’s not the craziest thing today, but it’s not what you would consider the most generic model, Ella said in an interview.
Ella Emhoff has tattoos and body hair. Image source: Stella Pictures.Ella Emhoff is Kamala Harris’ bonus daughter. Image source: Stella Pictures. Ella Emhoff is an artist. Image source: Stella Pictures.
According to the British Independent, she has now put modeling on the shelf to focus on her art. Ella is an extremely creative soul, and attended the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York, where she graduated in May 2021. Since then, she has founded the brand Soft Hands and she works with textiles, crochet and recycled materials, she herself writes on her website .
Just like her father and stepmother, Ella is passionate about politics. She is involved in the LGBTQ movement, and supports, among other things, the grassroots movement Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, which helps black trans people pay rent, finance gender-affirming care, travel and medical care, something that The List reported on.
Kamala’s political opponents have mocked Kamala for not having any biological children, to which Ella responded: “How can you be childless when you have golden kids like myself and Cole,” Ella wrote, referring to her brother Cole. Ella is also named after the singer Ella Fitzgeraldwhile Cole is named after the saxophonist John Coltrane, writes Independent.
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Ella Emhoff’s revelation about Kamala Harris
So how is Kamala Harris as a bonus mom? Very strict, it turns out.
“We always joke that when we bring friends over for the first time, they’re going to be grilled. If you don’t have a 10-year plan laid out and written down in a spreadsheet for them, you’re not going to survive the dinner. They’re definitely… they are strong,” said Ella in an interview with New York Times.
In any case, the love between Ella and Kamala seems to be strong, and both Ella and her brother Cole call Kamala “Momala” – a play on the word “mother” and Kamala.
Kamala Harris and Ella Emhoff. Image source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Marti/TT BildElla Emhoff on the beauty treatment that went wrong
One of Ella’s strengths as a model is her curly hair, bushy eyebrows and green-brown eyes.
Ella Emhoff is known for her “unibrow”. Image source: Stella Pictures.
But earlier this year, Ella revealed that she underwent a beauty treatment that went really, really wrong. Namely, she had bleached and then dyed her eyebrows to such an extent that they looked like they had disappeared completely.
“Me at 21. But no eyebrows. Never let me do that again,” she wrote, following up with a picture showing the result in a little more detail.
Fortunately, her brows now look completely normal again!
Ella Emhoff talked about the beauty treatment that went wrong. Image Source: Stella Pictures.Ooops. Image source: Stella Pictures.
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