Meet the TikTok Star Behind Ella Emhoff’s Custom DNC Dress

It’s late in the morning and Joe Ando is running on fumes, but he’s still his usual chipper self. The 28-year-old fashion designer has been working around the clock to finish up a dress for Ella Emhoff—Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter—to wear at the Democratic National Convention, a floral-inspired, deconstructed silk and tulle gown that he handed off not long before we jump on a Zoom call.

“The dress feels like a ballerina tea party, but the muted tones help keep it from being too costume-like,” Ando says, estimating that it took between 55 to 70 hours to finish, including the creative development, draping, patternmaking, and sewing.

At the DNC, dressing one of Capitol Hill’s VIPs (let alone the family of a presidential nominee) is usually an honor reserved for the Oscar de la Rentas and Ralph Laurens of the world, but Ando was up for the challenge. After all, he’s been tasked with designing a snowballing number of bespoke dresses over the years on a tight turnaround. With nearly 3 million followers on TikTok, the FIT graduate has made a name for himself on social media as the endearingly goofy guy who really, really wants to make you a dress. Many of his videos begin the same way: Ando extends a tiny microphone to a seemingly unsuspecting person, followed by the same entreaty, “Can I make you a dress?” Spoiler alert: They all say yes.

Ella Emhoff wears a Joe Ando design onstage with Helena Hudlin and Meena Harris at the DNC.

Usually on his own dime, Ando then cooks up something tailored to their tastes, but always romantic-looking. Previous collaborations have yielded diaphanous cascades of tulle, sumptuous silk gowns, and very demure, very cutesy, very mindful brocade silhouettes. Though he started out making clothes for friends and partners, he became emboldened to reach out to some of his favorite musicians (like Holly Humberstone and Lizzie McAlpine) to wear his clothes onstage. Since his videos have taken off, his dresses have graced the likes of stars like Rachel Zegler, Keke Palmer, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, culminating in his big historical moment at last week’s convention.

“Things have accelerated so fast and I’ve learned so much, so quickly, and have put so many crazy hours into it this past year,” he says. “In time, it’ll get even more crazy, which is fun to think about.”

Below, we spoke to Ando about his trajectory in fashion, how social media has propelled his career, who he’d love to collaborate with, and what’s next.

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Putting your designs on TikTok was a smart move, since things go viral all the time. How did that platform become part of your brand?

Pre-COVID, I was acting on a show right before I was set to graduate college. Then I got killed off the show, so I was out of a job. I was supposed to intern at Marc Jacobs as my post-college opportunity to hopefully get a job, and I lost that because of COVID. Then I got contacted by Yeezy, where at the time, the owner was running for president [laughs]. I would have had to move to Wyoming for it. And I was like, I can’t do that. So that’s when I started posting as much stuff as possible on the internet.

When I started making videos of my dresses, I had no other opportunities. I was in a position where I had all this free time to try it and not be disappointed that I wasn’t putting my effort towards something else that could have been smarter for me. I poured everything into it, and I kept thinking, Why hasn’t anyone copied it? But I guess it’s because it’s so time-intensive. Most other people on social media can just make a bunch of videos for fun doing all kinds of different things, no matter what…lip-syncing, dancing. I do versions of it to tie into my fashion content, but I have to put in a week of brutal labor with myself and sometimes with my assistant. And you know, we get like three videos out of that [laughs].

What’s the creative process like when you’re making dresses for people?

Every situation is different. A lot of people I work with, you can tell they’ve been to events and they have a stylist who has an idea of what they look good in already. I usually just get a sense of their vibe by looking at photos and chatting with them. I did something recently where I presented a person with, like, 40 different fabric options and 40 different designs for dresses. I was like, “You can look through all of these, check off which ones you like, and then we can look at those. And if there are any details that you don’t like, we can change it, add to it, shorten the hem, or fix a detail.” I try to make it as much of a bespoke experience for them as possible.

I would say only 25 percent of the time [the customer has] actually wanted to be involved in the process. A lot of the time they’re like, “That looks awesome. I love this idea.” And then we just go from there. And if I get inspired along the way, sometimes things change and I’ll text or send them video updates and we’ll have a real-time exchange. So it’s a super interactive process, but they do seem to trust me a lot, which has been nice.

How much time does it typically take for you to finish a design?

On average, it’s been around four to five days most of the time. We were lucky once where we were given a whole month, but we needed that month because it was a dress that involved dyeing and handing it off to so many different people to do so many specific steps. I really struggle with saying no, and I like [making dresses] a lot. So I always think, This is an adventure. And then it results in where I am at physically right now.

A couple months ago I got to a point where I was like, I’m being asked to do so much. And my work schedule was so brutal and I was not sleeping at all. And even right now, I have a torn ligament in my ankle, and for the last four days I have been standing on my foot for basically 15 hours a day. My chiropractor asked what was wrong with me. I told him I don’t have a choice. [Laughs.]

How would you describe your own personal style?

Practical and comfortable, very utilitarian. I wear a lot of baggy pants. I’m just like everyone else, honestly. I like an oversized tee with khakis or chinos. I like distressed pants. I would describe my style as “preppy casual.”

You’ve made clothes for a bunch of indie musicians. What new music are you into these days?

I love indie pop and indie folk so much. That’s the music that makes me feel and think and relate to them during the hard times. My biggest dream was to make stuff for indie musicians that feels cool and whose work I’m passionate about.

And you’re a big Taylor Swift fan, too. Do you have any favorite songs of hers that you keep coming back to?

There’s one song that’s straight-up called “Dress.” It feels like a poppy kind of ballad. It’s kind of medium-tone—such a good song.

Who would you say is your absolute white whale that you would love to dress in the future?

I love how random the internet is and my life is, and I love how random working with people is and how unexpected everything is. I would kill to do something with Martha Stewart. It would make no sense, but make perfect sense at the same time.

What do you think she would even ask for?

I have no clue. She is such a simple dresser. It seems like she prioritizes comfort and wearing cool things that are comfortable. So probably some button-down that turns into something super gathered and large. If we were going to do a gown, maybe it could be something with a lot of cool tiers spilling out, sort of like frosting on a cake.

What’s your favorite piece that you’ve ever designed?

The dress inspired by a flower that I just made for Ella Emhoff. I met her through someone else who I have a good friendship with. She told me, “I want to work with an independent designer and it seems like you’re flexible and open to a mutual design.” She wanted to do something different and unique and something that fell in line with our generation and felt attainable and relatable. And I was like, “Girl, hell yeah. You just say the word, I’ll do whatever you want.”

And that worked out really, really nicely. She could have picked someone else. It’s another creative person trusting my judgment and trusting that I can execute on it. If you see what I’ve made a year ago, I’ve come such a long way in terms of ability, so this was a really good test.

On TikTok, you talk a lot about your mixed-race heritage. What do you hope that people take away from that content?

I’m half Japanese, so I’m technically white-passing, but I’m from a predominantly white town and growing up, we were pretty much the only Asian family there. Definitely up until I transferred schools at a certain point, I was made to feel super different. I was pretty much mute up until the ninth grade, and I only became more outgoing once I went to college and started acting. I know what it’s like to feel not very welcome. Watching people’s perspectives on me change based on things that I don’t think are important has affected how much I want what I do to feel relatable, as opposed to being too cool or unattainable.

What’s next for you?

I plan on starting a brand in the spring—a small brand. To have a compass for where you’re going is the hardest part in the beginning. ’’ve gotten a lot of really great advice. It’s definitely gonna be dresses and skirts and cute knits, we’re still fleshing it out. It will be in line with what I’ve been doing, but at the same time, what I do with the dresses is so specific to each person. It’s a totally different vibe every time. I want [the brand] to be super accessible and authentic in the sense that every time we sell clothing or do a pop-up, I want to be there. I want to raffle off fittings and raffle off a custom dress to someone who really wants to buy it.

What are your reference points for the brand?

It’s pretty reflective of my background. My dad’s French and my mom’s Japanese. Going to Japan a lot growing up and over the last couple years, I got to see what kind of style people have there and really intersect it with what I’ve seen from my dad’s side, because my dad has always dressed in a super French, bohemian style. He wears tattered overalls with a button-down and a tie under it because he thinks it’s funny. It’s always been inspiring to see him wear a very casual Parisian style of dressing. My mom, on the other hand, has always taken me around Japan and showed me cool stores and vintage shops. The brand vision is blend that mixed background and make it feel like a walk in the park, except the park is in New York and Tokyo.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.