Presidential and vice-presidential kids always find their place in the history books,
but how many of them have given themselves tattoos?
Keep watching to find out just how creative VP stepdaughter Ella Emhoff really is.
It's no surprise that Ella Emhoff won the fashion game at the 2021 inauguration.
She is, after all, a fashion connoisseur. As it turns out, Emhoff was actually a student
at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Choosing an incredibly chic ensemble
likely felt like second nature to Emhoff, who studied textiles, and graduated in May 2021,
per E!. It makes sense that Emhoff studied textiles, as she's a burgeoning designer.
Her Instagram page is full of brightly-colored creations she's knit or crocheted by herself.
To add just one more factor to Emhoff's already off-the-charts coolness,
you might be interested to know that Emhoff, who has numerous tattoos,
does her own body art when she gets bored, according to The Daily Beast.
If that isn't the most un-Ivanka thing you've ever heard, we don't know what is.
Almost as soon as Ella Emhoff made her now-famous debut in Miu Miu at the 2021
presidential inauguration, she landed a coveted modeling contract at IMG,
the same agency that reps Karlie Kloss and Chrissy Tiegen. Emhoff told The New York Times in 2021:
"As someone who, like a lot of young girls out there, had self-confidence issues,
it is intimidating and scary to go into this world that is hyper-focused on you and the body."
Emhoff may see herself as decidedly, quote, "unmodel-esque," but that's not
how higher-ups at IMG see it. The president of IMG Models told The New York Times:
"It's not really about shape, size or gender anymore. Ella communicates
this moment in time. There's a cheekiness and a joy she exudes."
Brands are noticing her authenticity too. Just months after joining IMG,
Ella made her New York Fashion Week debut walking for Proenza Schoeler, per USA Today.
"That was my first ever fashion experience, honestly."
She then took her style international and modeled for Balenciaga in Paris. More than just an excuse
to wear pretty clothes, Emhoff is looking forward to using her new career and growing
platform to raise awareness about issues close to her heart. Emhoff told The New York Times:
"There are a lot of people out there that need a lot of help. If I can do anything to help with
that, I want to, and I think this opportunity will be really beneficial toward that."
After landing a modeling contract and walking in fashion weeks around the world,
the next serious step for any model is a Met Gala appearance.
Ella Emhoff crossed that off her list in September 2021.
Emhoff made her Met Gala debut decked out head to toe in a Stella McCartney red mesh bodysuit.
The outfit in question contained mesh sneakers, a mesh and sequined bodice, and shiny oversized red
pants. We assume Emhoff opted for red because the Met Gala theme was "America." According to Emhoff,
wearability is just as important as adhering to a theme. She told The New York Times:
"I'm someone who's really passionate about comfort. Even though this is the Met, everyone
is allowed to still feel comfortable in their own skin, their own style. There's no playbook
to how you dress to this. [...] It's definitely something I would wear in my own day-to-day life."
With a fancy new fashion career, comes a fancy new fashion boyfriend. Not long after
Ella Emhoff signed with IMG did she meet a very fashionable new flame. We are talking, of course,
about her much-publicized relationship with Sam Hine, a fashion editor at GQ. Besides posting
a plethora of Instagram pics of each other, the pair have been spotted out all over New York City
in high fashion outfits, each more quirky than the last. It's unclear when they started dating,
though they were first linked by the New York Post in March 2021.
Emhoff officially confirmed the relationship during an August 2021 interview with Vanity Fair.
When IMG first contacted Ella Emhoff about signing with their company after spotting
her at Biden's inauguration, her family was skeptical. Emhoff told The New York Times:
"Modeling can be a pretty intense industry — they were a little protective of me.
[But my family softened their stance] when they saw my interest in it and saw what is
changing in that world. I think they're pretty excited I can be part of that."
One person who may be slightly less excited about Emhoff's blossoming career is her father,
Doug Emhoff. In fact, according to Ella ever since she started modeling and selling her crocheted
works, her dad has been on her case about finding a more stable job. Ella told Vanity Fair in 2021:
"My dad asks me very often, 'So have you reconsidered law school?' And I keep saying,
'Doug, not happening. I'm going to leave it to you, and I will be the artist.'"
While Ella hasn't necessarily ruled out law school or some other more academic career in the future,
it seems like right now she's perfectly happy where she is — whether or not dad approves.
Ella Emhoff's life has changed a lot since her stepmother, Kamala Harris,
became the vice president. For one, she got a modeling contract and a few hundred thousand
new Instagram followers. The level of attention she now receives is quite a
chance for the relatively quiet life she led as a New York City-based art student until January
2021. It's of little surprise that adjusting to life in the public eye and a new family dynamic
has been a lot for Emhoff to take in. Emhoff explained while speaking to The New York Times:
"When we went to see [Doug Emhoff and Harris] for Election Day, it really hit me, like, Whoa.
Seeing them is a lot different now. There's a lot more people.
I think the idea of sharing our parents with the world is kind of insane."
To make a long story short, it seems like Ella is still very much processing
her feelings about her and her family's newfound fame, telling the newspaper:
"Like, it's a really cool thing to wrap your head
around — because you get to share all the great things. But it's also like, Huh?!"
Creating a copacetic relationship with your dad's new wife can be complicated, but for Ella Emhoff,
when it comes to her relationship with Kamala Harris, everything is easy-peasy.
Ella and her brother Cole opened up about the dynamic in a 2021 interview
with The New York Times. Ella shared that Harris pushes them to be responsible and think about
their future in a mature, adult way. According to Ella, her advice is, quote, "just have a plan."
For her part, Harris speaks just as highly about her stepkids. The Vice President wrote in Elle:
"They are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults.
I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in."
Harris and Ella share an especially close bond, which Harris wrote at length about
in the Elle piece. She described her agony at having to miss Ella's senior year swim
meets because of scheduling conflicts when she became a senator. Vice President Harris wrote:
"This new job meant that I would be splitting time between California
and Washington, D.C., and the hardest part was going to be being away from my Ella."
The Vice President added that they all decided she'd go by
"Momala" rather than "Kamala"—which is basically the sweetest thing we've ever heard.
"To my brother and me, you'll always be momala — the world's greatest stepmom."
By now it seems like there's literally no time in the day for Ella Emhoff to have an additional
hobby. Incredibly though, between making her own clothes and traveling the world for her job,
Emhoff somehow still finds time to develop her skills as a painter.
According to a 2020 interview with Vice's Garage, Emhoff has always been interested in the medium.
Emhoff even posts her latest creations on her website for all to see. Among the standouts are
her oil paintings of eggs, a Pop-Tart, and some ice cream. Emhoff told Vice's Garage:
"A lot of my work is super vibrant and a lot of color clashing."
Additionally, Emhoff has taken advantage of the unique opportunities that living in New
York can afford a young artist to learn about the medium. Emhoff likes to explore trendy
shops like Cafe Forgot, or Frankie Shop, when she wanders around the city for inspiration.
One of the defining moments of Ella Emhoff's life happened in her early childhood when her
mother and father divorced. What might have been a jarring experience for many children,
actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Ella and her parents.
When Doug and Kerstin Emhoff split, Doug moved into an apartment complex called the Palazzo
in Los Angeles and then to a few other apartments before finding somewhere more permanent.
The experience of moving from place to place and spending
so much alone time with her dad and brother created a special connection
between Ella and the men in her family. Ella told The New York Times in 2021:
"It definitely, for the three of us, was really bonding. And I think we do have that sense of
like, we made it through the random apartments, figuring out the dynamic of it being just us."
The transition was made easier for the kids by the fact that
Kerstin and Doug were on such good terms after the split. Ella told the outlet:
"It's a cool dynamic we all have.
And I think it is a good model to show that you can have this and this isn't weird."
Keeps up with her dad and stepmom
These days Ella Emhoff is probably just about as busy being a model/artist as her dad,
Doug Emhoff and her stepmom Kamala Harris, are being the vice president and second spouse of the
United States. Despite their hectic schedules, the group tries their best to keep in touch as
much as possible even while living and working in different parts of the country — and often,
the world. Back in 2020 when Harris was in the midst of her VP run,
Ella told Glamour that her stepmom somehow always carves out time to give her a call:
"It'll just be something sweet like, 'Hi, I was just thinking about you, hope your day is good."
The model also joked that if her parents bothered to leave voicemails when she missed their calls
she'd be quicker to call back. Ella also revealed that when Doug
or Harris are particularly desperate for a callback, Doug will send Ella
a reminder in the form of a text consisting of several hearts and American flag emojis.
It's well established that Ella Emhoff has an artistic temperament — after all, she designs
her own clothes — but she takes it a step further by applying her own permanent tattoos.
On her instagram, Ella has posted pictures of many of her tats, including a cow, a birthday cake,
and a dog. The more she's practiced, the better she's gotten. Ella told Vice's Garage:
"[First] I did the classic: I did my dog's name, and I did a little flower."
Emhoff added that she's advanced to more complicated designs since then.
She isn't interested in pursuing it professionally,
however. She's more than content to tattoo as a hobby. Ella told Garage:
"It's fun to just do it to yourself or do it to a friend.
And if you can do it, definitely go for it."
Proving that stars are, in fact, just like us, Emhoff also let slip in an
interview with The New York Times that her parents didn't find out about her tattoos
until they saw them on Instagram. Ella said of her mother, father, and stepmother:
"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. They have good communication
between the three of them. They are really a unit, like a three-person parenting squad."
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