If politics aren’t your thing, this week’s US inauguration served up some serious fashion looks.
There was Michelle Obama in plum and Hillary Clinton in her power purple and the Biden clan’s commitment to matching their masks to their outfits.
And of course, Melania Trump deserves an honourable mention for her Gucci kaftan that spoke volumes after she left the White House.
But the real fashion star of the inauguration was a person you’ve probably never heard of before: Ella Emhoff.
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Ella is the stepdaughter of US Vice President Kamala Harris and at just 21 is being lauded for being an “instant style icon” and achieving “what Ivanka couldn’t get done in four years”: actual fashion praise.
Wearing a Miu Miu plaid coat with bedazzled shoulder accents and a burgundy Batsheva dress, Ella’s outfit wouldn’t have looked out of place at fashion week in Paris.
“My mood board was very ‘little girl,’ in a sense, a lot of scalloped collars and big silhouette shoulders and small buttons,” Ella told Vogue of her outfit inspiration.
“I was going for something girlier, to embrace my feminine side … because, like, how many times do you prepare yourself to attend an inauguration?
“This momentous of an event deserves a momentous outfit.”
Others also agreed with Ella’s outfit being momentous, taking to Twitter to heap praise on the look – and her trendy energy – something Ivanka rarely received despite owning her own fashion line when her father took office in 2017.
During Donald Trump’s time in the White House Ivanka’s expensive Jackie O-inspired outfits were often slammed by critics.
Ivanka was likened to a “50s housewife” when she wore a $17,000 Carolina Herrera shirt dress to a white tie banquet at Buckingham Palace in 2019.
The former First Daughter was also forced to shut down her fashion and shoe brands in 2018 after controversy over her father’s policies prompted stockists and customers alike to desert the label.
Ella doesn’t have just a passing interest in clothing – she is a student at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York, where she lives.
The design student is a prolific Instagrammer who uses the platform to show off her artistic side with quirky self-portraits and colourful object photos.
Her passion is in knitting and crochet, with Ella selling bikinis, hats and pants via her website.
She’s the daughter of Doug Emhoff, who has been married to Vice President Harris since 2014, and calls her stepmum “Momala” – just in case you needed any more evidence of how cool she was.
