Ella Emhoff Makes Her New York Fashion Week Debut at Proenza Schouler

After stepping out on the national stage to great acclaim in January, Ella Emhoff walked her first runway this week. The knitwear aficionado and Parsons fashion student—better known to many as the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris—was among the models cast in Proenza Schouler's Fall 2021 show at New York Fashion Week, much to the surprise and delight of her fast-growing fan base.

Emhoff signed on with IMG Models after making a style statement for the ages at the inauguration last month (in the prior year, she'd done some modeling with a smaller agency, but joining IMG was a whole new level). IMG's president, Ivan Bart, told the New York Times that he was immediately struck when he saw her at the ceremony. "Ella communicates this moment in time," he said. "There’s a cheekiness and a joy she exudes."

For her part, Emhoff expressed mixed feelings about her budding modeling career to the Times. "When I was younger, I never saw that as being part of my timeline," she said, adding, "As someone who, like a lot of young girls out there, had self-confidence issues, it is intimidating and scary to go into this world that is hyper-focused on you and the body."

Still, she's done her fellow art kids proud at Proenza, first appearing on a panel with the designer earlier this week, and now lending her face to the label. Curly hair and glasses have never looked so, well, cool.