Ella Emhoff took the stage on the final night of the Democratic National Convention to praise her stepmother, Vice-President Kamala Harris, as a “patient, caring” figure in her life who will fight for America. But she also caught attention once again with her distinctive style, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress with a pale blue bodice and a full white skirt designed by Joe Ando.
“Kamala came into my life when I was 14, famously a very easy time for a teenager,” the 25-year-old model and designer said. “Like a lot of young people, I didn’t always understand what I was feeling, but no matter what, Kamala was there for me. She was patient, caring, and always took me seriously. She’s never stopped listening to me, and she’s not going to stop listening to all of us.”
Emhoff was accompanied onstage by Harris’s niece Meena Harris and the her goddaughter, Helena Hudlin. Their appearance was consistent with the theme of family throughout the convention. Emhoff’s brother, Cole Emhof, also participated in the DNC this week, introducing their father, Doug Emhoff, before his speech on Tuesday evening.
In recent weeks, as Republicans such as J.D. Vance attacked Kamala Harris over the fact that she has no biological children, Ella Emhoff has defended her “Momala.” “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I,” she posted in an Instagram Story last month. Emhoff then somehow offended conservative sensibilities herself on the first night of the DNC, when she wore a Harris-Walz camo-print cap inspired by Chappell Roan. Her Thursday-night look should give them little more to grouse about, in theory: very demure, very mindful.
