When the Vice President is your stepmother, you're sure to get access to some exclusive opportunities. For Ella Emhoff, however, that's just the tip of the iceberg — or should we say Swiss Mountain range?
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00:00When the vice president is your stepmother, you're sure to get access to some exclusive
00:04opportunities. For Ella Emhoff, however, that's just the tip of the iceberg — or,
00:09should we say, Swiss mountain range.
00:11Emhoff's lavish life is partially due to the respective careers of her father,
00:15Doug Emhoff, and her stepmother, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since their 2014 wedding,
00:20Doug and Harris have become something of a financial and political power couple.
00:24Forbes estimates that the pair is worth approximately $8 million,
00:28based on Doug's billable hours, Harris' salary, and the duo's shared real estate holdings.
00:32Doug reportedly earns an average of $1 million per year in his job as a high-power entertainment
00:37and media lawyer. He also picks up an extra paycheck in his role as a law professor at
00:42Georgetown University. Harris, meanwhile, has been a six-figure earner for over 20 years.
00:46The vice president also brings in a sizable salary, in the form of royalties,
00:50for her books The Truths We Hold and Superheroes Are Everywhere. In fact,
00:54the New York Post reported that Harris' books have been more financially successful than those
00:58published by first lady Jill Biden. Doug and Harris' collective success has permitted Ella
01:03and her brother Cole Emhoff to grow up in quite the comfortable environment. Over the years,
01:07Ella has enjoyed access to private schools, a nice home, and vacations to cities like London.
01:13Because of her family's comfortable financial situation, Ella Emhoff attended the Wildwood
01:17School, a top private school located in Los Angeles, California. Many of Hollywood's latest
01:22and greatest have walked through the halls of this institution. As The Hollywood Reporter
01:25summarized,
01:26"...some of the Spielberg kids, two of Dustin Hoffman's kids, and all of Demi Moore's brood
01:30went. Rob Reiner's kids and a Meryl Streep daughter also are alums."
01:34On Grandparents and Special Friends Day, even Leonardo DiCaprio has been known to
01:38grace the classrooms. Of course, not just anybody can attend this exclusive institution.
01:43According to the Wildwood School website, school fees are far from being cheap.
01:47Tuition for the 2024-25 school year topped off at $50,840 for middle school and high school
01:53students. Elementary schoolers, meanwhile, paid $43,990 for a year of coursework.
01:59I really like how we're so connected to our teachers and how
02:03we are able to ask them questions and build connections with them."
02:06Despite the high price tag of Emhoff's education, it seems that the California native managed to
02:11have a reasonably normal high school experience. She was known to play varsity basketball and even
02:15joined the school's competitive swim team. Emhoff's top-notch education did not end at
02:20the Wildwood School. The vice president's stepdaughter also went on to continue her
02:24studies at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Not unlike Wildwood,
02:28studying at Parsons is far from cheap. According to the new school website,
02:32full tuition for the 2024-25 school year reaches $28,989 per semester,
02:38and that's not including the living expenses in New York City. Luckily,
02:41it seems that Emhoff took full advantage of her expensive education. In 2021,
02:46she graduated from the institution with a bachelor's in fine arts. On Instagram,
02:50the budding artist explained how she had spent her senior year at the institution, writing,
02:54"...I spent my final year at Parsons creating a collection of knitwear-slash-crochet pieces
02:59in response to my adolescent diary and childhood photographs using excess
03:02yarn from the pants I was making."
03:04She also revealed that her thesis was a pair of knit pants made partially from scraps.
03:08Considering the fact that Emhoff now sells each of her knits for thousands of dollars,
03:12her time at Parsons seems to have paid off.
03:16As an up-and-coming model, designer, and overall fashionista, Emhoff was likely thrilled to attend
03:20the 2021 New York Fashion Week. This event, which took place just months after her stepmom took
03:25office, attracted big names from across the globe. Unsurprisingly, Emhoff was a part of
03:30the festivities, as was her boyfriend, GQ editor Sam Hein. Dressed to the nines in gender-bending
03:35clothes, the young couple made a splash. While Hein wore a blazer paired with a skirt,
03:39Emhoff wore a more masculine ensemble that included a collared shirt and necktie.
03:43Fans of the emerging designer were not surprised to see her feet clad in oxfords,
03:47as opposed to something tippier. As Emhoff herself had told Vanity Fair just weeks prior
03:51to the event,
03:52"...I'm nervous because I am not really good at walking in heels."
03:55Since then, Emhoff has become something of a New York Fashion Week regular. At the 2023
04:00iteration of the event, she was praised for embracing a princess look. Of course,
04:04Emhoff was also unafraid to dabble in some of the other fashion trends that would go
04:08on to take over 2024. One of her best looks at NYFW in February 2024 involved an oversized
04:14blazer and a pair of round spectacles that made her confident demeanor pop.
04:19In addition to being a fan of fashion, Emhoff is also a model. As a result,
04:23she gets to wear some of the coolest clothes in the business. Ever since she had her first
04:27runway show in 2021, she has worked with brands ranging from Prada to Mulberry to Balenciaga.
04:32As she told Vogue,
04:33"...there's a red carpet behind me, there are no seats, and all I know is that Balenciaga does
04:38the most interesting and creative shows of the season."
04:40According to Emhoff, being a part of the fashion industry has always been a dream of hers.
04:45As she explained on The Talks, she was confident she wanted to go into design from a young age.
04:49"...my mom was super into fashion, so I'd always play dress-up in her closet,
04:53and also wear her high heels."
04:54In that sense, Emhoff's runway debut was the culmination of many years of aspirations.
05:00In 2024, Emhoff brought her unique sense of style to the ski slopes in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
05:05Dressed in bright purple skiwear, Emhoff stood out on the downhill ski runs of one
05:09of Europe's most exclusive mountain resorts. Interestingly, no one was more surprised by
05:14her funky violet-colored ensemble than Emhoff herself. Commenting on this with Interview
05:18magazine, she shared,
05:20"...I didn't know that I was such a purple girl. I felt like a fashionable Swiss kid.
05:24I had a full underlayer, and I couldn't even get the chance to wear the jacket and feel the
05:28full coziness because it was just so sunny."
05:30Of course, there was more to Ella Emhoff's trip than fashion. She fully embraced the
05:34athletic aspect of her mountain experience, trekking up snowy hills and using ski poles
05:39for support. She also found a whole lot to love about the Swiss culinary experience,
05:43and enjoyed plenty of vegan fondue along the way. St. Moritz has long been a hotspot for A-list
05:48celebrities and European royals. Emhoff rubbed shoulders with at least one major celebrity on
05:53her trip, telling Interview magazine,
05:55"...I also spent the whole trip traveling in tandem with Anne Hathaway. I went to the airport
05:59lounge and I was like, oh, hello!" Anne and her kids and her husband were just hanging out.
06:04Winter is not the only time of year that Emhoff has been known to have a good time.
06:08The model and designer has also been spotted out and about on more than one boat trip over
06:12the years. In 2021, Emhoff posted a shot on Instagram of herself on a boat in a red swimsuit.
06:18Months before that, paparazzi captured her cozying up to Hein on a small yacht in Saint-Tropez.
06:22As reported by the Daily Mail at the time,
06:24Emhoff and Hein were photographed soaking up the sun on the deck of a sleek chartered vessel.
06:28Every once in a while, they were served drinks by a man in a green-collared shirt,
06:32allowing them to enjoy their day of relaxation to the max. This outing was
06:36hardly low-priced — the Daily Mail reported that a day-long boat charter likely cost the
06:40couple $2,400. That being said, it looked like they had a good time de-stressing
06:45after a busy weekend at Paris Fashion Week.
06:47I did Saint-Tropez, so…
06:49Emhoff's life is not all fun and games. She's known to work very hard, both as a model and
06:54a designer. In 2024, Emhoff also hosted a gallery opening, where she exhibited a series of art
06:59pieces that she had knitted. To those who know Emhoff's work, it was no surprise to see her
07:03talent on display. Several of her textiles included detailed self-portraits that zoomed
07:08in on her brow line, freckles, and glasses. Emhoff sold many of her pieces for thousands of dollars.
07:13According to the New York Post, the emerging artist's knitted self-portrait boasted a $5,500
07:18price tag. Even many of Emhoff's clothing items were not especially affordable.
07:22A pair of hand-knit pants reportedly cost about $350. Although these prices may sound high,
07:28Emhoff's biggest fans seemed to think that her work was worth it. One of her supporters told
07:32the New York Post,
07:33"[Her stuff is gorgeous. I don't even know how she began to do this stuff. It's crazy."