US Vice President Kamala Harris’s step-daughter Ella Emhoff made a surprise runway debut for American label Proenza Schouler at New York Fashion Week.
The 21-year-old Ella first grabbed attention during Ms Harris’s inauguration in an embellished Miu Miu coat and her now-signature glasses – a look that was praised as a ‘breath of fresh air’ amid the conventional inauguration fashion.
Soon after, the designers were planning their February show — actually a digital short, for pandemic reasons — and the casting director mentioned Emhoff. “And we said, ‘We were just talking about Ella.’ Seemed like everyone was kind of talking about her,” McCollough said in an interview.
As it turns out, Emhoff, a senior and art major at Parsons School of Design (where Hernandez and McCollough met and began their partnership), had just signed with IMG Models, joining an even bigger breakout star of the inauguration: poet Amanda Gorman.
As it turns out, Emhoff, a senior and art major at Parsons School of Design (where Hernandez and McCollough met and began their partnership), had just signed with IMG Models, joining an even bigger breakout star of the inauguration: poet Amanda Gorman.
The outdoor shoot took place recently on a blustery weekend at the Parrish Museum in Water Mill, New York. It was the first time Emhoff had walked a runway.
“I have to say I was a little nervous,” Emhoff, daughter of Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff, said later in a streamed talk with the designers, also released Thursday. “I definitely lost a little sleep the night before. I’m walking for the first time, I’m in this professional environment for the first time … the anticipation was really high.” She spoke of her love for knitting and textiles, and her dream of her own knitwear brand.
“She kind of reminded us of of our friends and ourselves in a lot of ways back when we were at Parsons,” McCollough said. He and Hernandez launched their own brand from their senior thesis collection.
On Thursday, she released a collection of five items that included two sweater vests and a long striped dress.
Only one of each item was made and they quickly sold out on the website Mall, which is an online marketplace for emerging designers.
