Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of VP Kamala Harris and daughter of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, was named an icon by Harper’s Bazaar. Ella is a 21-year-old Parsons School of Design grad who started getting a lot attention for her style after the inauguration in 2021. She landed a IMG modeling contract later that month. Anyway, at the party for Harper’s, Ella spoke exclusively to People about receiving the honor — she’s surprised and flattered because she never really saw herself that way.
Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris and daughter of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, is navigating her new “icon” status.
The 21-year-old spoke exclusively with PEOPLE at the 2022 Harper’s Bazaar Icons & Bloomingdale’s 150th Anniversary party on Friday. Ella was named an icon by the magazine, meaning she is a young person who is making an impact on the world through their ideas and their art.
Emhoff told PEOPLE she is surprised by the honor, and is taking it seriously.
“It’s kind of shocking,” she said. “This is an incredible honor and as someone who doesn’t really think of herself like that it’s nice reassurance. And makes me check myself and the way I perceive myself, so exciting.”
Even so, Emhoff said it isn’t quite sinking in that she is a fashion inspiration.
“I do understand the position and it’s so exciting, and I’m so grateful,” she explained. “But for some reason, I feel like I’m seeing myself from the outside, like it’s a very interesting experience that I will never forget. And it’s exciting. I feel like every day it sinks in a little more. It’s a slow process.”
Emhoff said she wants to work with people she finds inspiring in the moment, saying that she doesn’t have a specific goal for her fashion career.
“So what I like now could be completely different from what I like next season,” Emhoff said. “So I just like the process and the journey of it, and I’ve already got to walk for so many great designers like Miu Miu, Balenciaga, Proenza — those are already above and beyond my lists.”
A graduate of the prestigious Parsons School of Design, where she studied fine arts with a concentrated focus on apparel and textiles, Emhoff said she is keeping her plans for the future “loose” and “open.” Emhoff said she is making an effort not to put too much pressure on the future, and that avoiding stress is a priority.
“The only way to make it in this industry is to keep a level head, keep expectations level,” she emphasized.
She said she still gets nervous walking for runway shows, even the one she had come from an hour prior.
It’s a pretty cool honor for Ella to receive: an icon at only 21-years-old after only being on “the scene” for around two years! Over the weekend, Ella walked in Prabal Gurung’s New York Fashion Week show at UN Plaza and much was made of her bare boob. Whatever, it’s just a boob and it’s fashion. Ella has also already walked for Miu Miu, Balenciaga, and Proenza, and attended the Met Gala last year. Both Ella and her boyfriend were wearing Thom Browne at the anniversary party, and he rather adorably gushed over her to the People reporter. He said that she’s different from other models because she doesn’t cover her tattoos or shave her armpits (or pluck her unibrow), but I think that just makes her very Gen Z? Ella talked about trying to keep a level head and not putting too much pressure on the future, but noted she still gets nervous about walking runway shows. Seems like she a good thing going with the modeling, but she also has her Parsons degree to fall back on.
photos credit: Avalon.red, Cover Images and Getty
