“Congratulations to our daughter Ella on her graduation. I am so proud of you,” Harris, 56, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, May 15. “Keep dreaming with ambition and there is nothing you cannot achieve. Love, Momala.”

Ella’s father, Doug Emhoff, who has been married to Harris since 2014, also praised his daughter’s achievements on Saturday.

“My darling Ella, we are such proud parents! We love you so much, and are very much looking forward to all you do in the future,” he wrote alongside a photo of the graduate in her cap and gown. “And, to the other Class of 2021 graduates out there, huge congratulations!”

The politician has always been supportive of her husband’s children — Doug is also father of Cole Emhoff — whom he shares with ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff.

“They are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults,” Harris wrote in an essay for Elle in May 2019. “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in. They are my endless source of love and pure joy.”

Ella made headlines in January when she attended the 2021 Presidential Inauguration of President Joe Biden in support of Harris, who was sworn in as the first female vice president in U.S. history.

The designer turned heads for her fashion choices at the highly-publicized event, wearing a Miu Miu bedazzled coat and Batsheva maroon dress.

“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 ensemble at the Washington D.C. event. “I was going for something girlier, to embrace my feminine side — especially after that suit that I felt so great in — because, like, how many times do you prepare yourself to attend an inauguration? This momentous of an event deserves a momentous outfit.”

The knitter, who is named after Ella Fitzgerald, also caught the attention of the modeling world in her public debut. Ella landed a modeling contract with IMG Models in January based on her unique style and personality.

“It’s not really about shape, size or gender anymore,” the agency’s president Ivan Bart told The New York Times after her signing. “Ella communicates this moment in time. There’s a cheekiness and a joy she exudes.”

Less than one month later, Ella made her New York Fashion Week runway debut. The New York resident, who is also an artist, walked the catwalk for Proenza Schouler’s virtual show amid the coronavirus pandemic for their Fall/Winter 2021 collection in the Big Apple.

Ella’s surprise appearance included showing off two looks from the collection.

“I definitely lost a little sleep the night before,” the model said in conversation with Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at Spring Studios in New York, featured exclusively on NYFW.com in February. “I mean, I’m walking for the first time, I’m in a professional environment for the first time … It was a very epic first experience with the fashion world.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Johnni Macke