Kamala Harris’ step-daughter Ella Emhoff has signed with IMG Models after making a standout appearance at the January 20 inauguration.
Emhoff, 21, is the daughter of Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff and his first wife Kerstin, a film producer.
Emhoff, a visual arts student at New York City’s Parsons School of Design specializing in textiles, had been talking to the agency since her stepmother’s career put her in the spotlight.
Her Miu Miu jacket and viral eyebrow moves at Mike Pence sealed the deal: Before the inauguration day, she had about 50,000 followers on Instagram, and a week later the total had surpassed 300,000.
Ella Emhoff, pictured next to her father Doug at the inauguration, has signed with IMG Models
The 21-year-old’s eyebrow movement at Pence went viral after the moment was captured on camera
Emhoff now joins Gigi Hadid, Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen and Alek Wek.
Her signature comes one day from Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old youth poet laureate who performed at the inauguration.
“It’s not really about shape, size or gender anymore,” said Ivan Bart, IMG Models president.
Ella communicates this moment in time. There is a cheek and a joy she radiates. ‘
He said his response to seeing her at the inauguration was, “Wow, she communicates fashion.”
Emhoff, with her unconventional looks and 18 tattoos – including a cow, a vase, and bacon and eggs, plus some she did herself during the lockdown – said Bart’s approach took her back, even though she’d been dealing with modeling. smaller agent.
“ I was pretty surprised when everything happened with IMG because when I was younger I never saw that as part of my timeline, ” she told The New York Times.
“As someone who, like many young girls out there, was confident, it is intimidating and terrifying to enter this world that is hyper-focused on you and the body.”
Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate, pictured at the inauguration, also signed with IMG
Gisele Bundchen (left) and Gigi Hadid are among the famous faces that make up the IMG line-up
She said she was encouraged by the diversity of models that work today, and the opportunity to be “ part of that change. ”
Bart told the paper he noticed Emhoff was running a fundraising campaign for Harris during the presidential primaries.
Emhoff joins Alek Wek at IMG Models
“I noticed her as soon as she entered the door,” he said.
He said they started talking over the summer about the possibility of her joining IMG.
They had a Zoom call and she showed him her loom and some of her knits.
Emhoff has often talked about her strong family unit, with her brother Cole, 26, parents and Harris – whom she refers to as ‘Momala, the greatest stepmother in the world’.
The siblings, named after jazz legends John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald, name their father Doug.
Before the inauguration, she told The New York Times that she hoped her father would start knitting, “like me.”
Her mom tweeted the news of her IMG deal saying, ‘Very proud (but nervous) MOMMY! Ella will remain true to her cheeky self with all our support. ‘
Emhoff said, ‘I clearly now have a bigger platform and I’m excited to share a lot of things I really care about and do something good.’
She said she was ‘excited to do things like wear nice clothes’ and ‘bring a little bit of Bushwick into the high fashion world’.
She also hoped to raise money for knitwear artists.
“There are many people who need a lot of help,” she said.
“If I can do something about that, I want to, and I think this opportunity will be really good for that.”