In less than two months, Ella Emhoff has gone from fine art student to fashion world virtuoso. Today, the 21-year-old Parsons student and stepdaughter of Kamala Harris announced a new knitwear collaboration with New York designer Batsheva Hay, who Emhoff previously worked with on a custom look for President Biden’s inauguration.
With Emhoff dropping the news in and taking us behind-the-scenes in an exclusive video with US Vogue, beyond a sneak peek, exact details of the collection – including its release date – remain slim. If the past few weeks are anything to go by, though, this will be the seed of an Emhoff fashion empire.
Having grabbed the fashion industry and just about everyone else’s attention in a bejeweled Miu Miu coat during January’s presidential ceremony, the boho Brooklynite was quickly snapped up by IMG Models who, on signing Emhoff, said “it’s not really about shape, size, or gender anymore. Ella communicates this moment in time”.
Further into the Vogue video, Emhoff reflects on this sudden spotlight. “I have to be honest I wasn’t expecting this,” she admits, while her friend Fifi Hodgkinson, says “I remember a few days before the inauguration we were talking about what you were going to wear and we were very excited – I was joking that you were going to become a style icon.” Clearly, she wasn’t wrong.
Last month, Emhoff made her NYFW debut as she took to the runway for Proenza Schouler, and released a (very) limited collection of knits on shopping site Mall, which sold out almost instantaneously. It stands her in good stead for the upcoming Batsheva collaboration, which will meld each creative’s respective off-kilter styles. Think plays on femininity, deadstock material, and granny-ish crocheted patterns – but beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, revisit the AW21 Proenza Schoulder show in the gallery above.