"Are you wearing the…" "The dress guy from TikTok? Yeah, I am."
Ella Emhoff, the stepdaughter of Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, is known for stealing the show with her bold, Gen Z-approved looks, and she did it again during the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Emhoff donned a ballgown designed by the hottest Gen Z designer around—and, naturally, she found him on TikTok.
The glamorous gown, which she wore while speaking on stage, featured a pale blue corset bodice with an asymmetric neckline and off-the-shoulder sleeves, one of which was adorned with a blue rosette. The drop waist was lined with white tulle, before falling in a full pleated white midi skirt. She finished off the look like a true Gen Z-er with white socks and black patent leather Mary Janes. She wore her hair in a slick center-parted low bun.
The mastermind behind the dress is TikTok sensation Joe Ando, known for his glamorous, ultra-feminine ballgowns. The designer has 2.7 million followers on Instagram and almost 3 million on TikTok. Ando took to Instagram to share his reaction to seeing Emhoff in the dress. “SHE LOOKS SO GOOD!! 😭💙,” he wrote in the caption. Emhoff commented on the video, writing, “WE DID IT JOE!!!!!” in a reference to her stepmother’s viral moment when Joe Biden won the Presidential election back in 2020.
Ando gave fans a glimpse at the design process in other videos posted to his page. In one, Ando showed followers how he selected the fabrics for the dress, writing, “it’s HAPPENING 🦅 ✂️.” Another clip captured him putting the finishing touches on the piece, with the caption, “it’s 3 am, please put me to bed 🇺🇸👀.”
This isn’t Ando’s first high-profile commission—in February, the designer worked with Dakota Johnson to design a dress for the Madame Web press tour.
In an Instagram story, Ando revealed that Emhoff had actually crocheted the rosette shoulder detail herself. Emhoff is known to be an avid knitter—she creates "knit paintings," has her own knitting club, and even collaborated with clothing brand Batsheva in 2021 to release a line of crocheted knitwear.
Emhoff’s collaboration with TikTok sensation Joe Ando is only her latest interesting fashion move. She first captured widespread attention after wearing Miu Miu to Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration. In addition to her line with Batsheva, Emhoff also made her runway debut in 2021, walking in Proenza Schouler’s fall 2021 show at New York Fashion Week. The following year, she returned to New York Fashion Week to model for Maisie Wilen and Collina Strada. In 2023, she walked the runway at Cecilie Bahnsen’s show at Paris Fashion Week.