Being second daughter has its perks. Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff made her debut on the French high-fashion scene in Paris on Wednesday. Emhoff walked the runway for the fashion company Balenciaga in its first haute couture show since 1967.
“Balenciaga couture, thank you/congrats to @demnagvasalia and the whole Balenciaga team truly amazing,” the 22-year-old model wrote on Instagram. Emhoff added several photos of her getup for the runway walk featuring the idiosyncratic and gender-fluid designs of the fashion house.
Emhoff has only been a model for a few months and she’s already been included in several high-profile gigs, including Balenciaga and New York Fashion Week. She added a modeling deal with IMG Models to her resumé and debuted her own line of knitwear earlier this year.
The flood of accolades and sudden success seems to be quietly raising eyebrows in the world of fashion, though. For instance, The Cut felt the need to explain why Emhoff was part of the Paris show, saying, “Her presence on the Balenciaga couture runway may have seemed like a big leap for someone so early in her career, but it actually made sense in context of couture.” It is because Balenciaga is a “gender-fluid” designer, they explained.
Sudden success has been the hallmark of Emhoff’s nascent modeling career. She became the “it” girl for some designers only after her stepmother, Kamala Harris, became vice president.
The plain-looking, rail-thin Emhoff was celebrated by the corporate media as a fashionista about a week after the Biden administration took office. Eight days after Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president, Emhoff announced her modeling deal with IMG Models on January 28 of this year.
At the time, Ivan Bart, the president of IMG Models, said he was excited by photos Emhoff had posted to social media. One, in particular, showed her with armpit hair and a knitted teddy bear placard on her shirt.
It wasn’t long before Emhoff was strutting her stuff on the runway during New York’s Fashion Week in February.
The following month, Emhoff unveiled her own knitwear fashion line, as well.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.