Depending on who you ask, Ella Devi is either an 18-year-old fashion intern from New York City, or the MAGA Right’s worst nightmare. Devi first gained prominence last year as a ‘hot girl for Zohran’, one of the supporters of the then-candidate for NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani – despite never actually referring to herself as such. Though Devi did campaign for Mandani, the moniker was bestowed on her by the right-wing daily New York Post, which derided her for, of all things, not recognising the actor Wallace Shawn on a campaign trail.

More recently, however, Devi has attracted more ire from the Post with her fashion analysis of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In posts to TikTok and X, Devi revealed, after a little digging, that Erika Kirk’s gown was procured from the clearance rack at Saks Fifth Avenue, while Pete Hegseth’s wife Jennifer Rauchet bought her dress from Temu. In the days following, the Post laid into her yet again, while the Daily Mail wrote its own online article and ran a full page on her in its print edition, referring to the 18-year-old as a “Lefty ‘Cheap’ Shot”.

“They keep trying to character assassinate me, but it’s not working – they’re making me sound cool,” says Devi, discussing the reaction to her content. As a creator on TikTok, Devi’s posts often concern the intersection of fashion and politics, and amass hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of views. There are videos about Elena Velez’s history as a “far right bigot”, the role of looksmaxxing at Demna’s Gucci debut, an explanation of why you can’t be a Republican and dress like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, plus a post that simply reads “Abolishing ICE is the moderate position”. Mixed in with this is the more regular content you’d expect to see, showing her life as a fashion intern in NYC (the fact that Devi declined to reveal the exact brand she works for speaks volumes to the harassment she’s received from conservatives).

Though Devi clearly has a lot of people who love what she does online, there’s always going to be detractors – especially when you’re a young Brown woman. Her self-styling as a ‘socialist socialite’, for example, has been relentlessly picked up on, even though it’s a joke she made when she was 15. And while some believe you can’t profess left-wing politics while also posting content in vintage Chanel, Devi thinks otherwise. “Fashion and politics are the two things I’m always thinking about,” she says. “At this point, I should tattoo ‘fashion is political’ on my forehead.”

Below, we chat to Devi about her political fashion content, pissing off Trump’s America, and how she really feels about becoming a bogeyman for the right-wing press.

Hey Ella! Can you tell us a bit about who you are?

Ella Devi: I’m 18 years old and I was born and raised in New York City. I’ve recently been posting quite a bit online about the intersection of fashion and politics, which conservative America is not exactly thrilled by.

On that, your recent posts analysing the fashion at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner got a lot of pushback, especially the ones about Erika Kirk’s Saks clearance dress, and Pete Hegseth’s wife buying her dress from Temu. What is it about this style of commentary that riles people up?

Ella Devi: It’s hard for people to comprehend that right-wing women have bad taste because they have less proximity to people with good taste. That idea appears frequently in my content. I will say that it’s easier for people to understand this concept with the example of MAGA makeup. I want to work on translating that understanding over to clothing.

Your TikTok and Instagram seem like classic fashion content, but that’s often filtered through the prism of your left-wing politics. Are you trying to Trojan Horse socialism for the fashion girls?

Ella Devi: I want the girls to know their Givenchy and their Gramsci! But seriously, the right wing has been making every effort to rebrand themselves as fashionable. Just look at the Bezos Met Gala! We have to correct the narrative here.

So why the mix of fashion and political content?

Ella Devi: Fashion and politics are the two things I’m always thinking about. That is not ideal for me. People who follow left-wing politics are not having a great time right now, and people who work in fashion are admittedly never having a great time. Now combine the two. Thank god for therapy.

And your self-styling as a ‘socialist socialite’ has also got a lot of attention too.

Ella Devi: It’s been my Twitter bio since I was 15. Truly, it is something only a 15-year-old could think of. I didn’t realise it would be so blown out of proportion! It’s equal parts hilarious and concerning to me when people take it at face value.

“I want the girls to know their Givenchy and their Gramsci!” – Ella Devi

How do you feel about the criticism that fashion and socialist content are diametrically opposed?

Ella Devi: At this point, I should tattoo ‘fashion is political’ on my forehead. You study fashion to study human behaviour. It’s quite annoying to me when people suggest you dress yourself in a vacuum separate from our political climate. Everything you wear acts as a form of social signalling.

What’s your background in fashion? How did you get into the industry in the first place?

Ella Devi: So I’m an English & Philosophy student at Parsons, and I’ve been working in fashion since I was 14. My very first job in fashion was for this small brand owned by a friend of a friend. It’s now defunct – it’s so hard for small brands to survive in this economic climate! – but while I was there, we got talent placements like Addison Rae and SZA. I never envisioned myself actually working in fashion until it started to happen.

Who’s in your fashion network? And why is having one so important?

Ella Devi: My fashion network is Twitter! I’ve met some amazing women through Twitter and some of them have been working in fashion since I was a middle schooler. I get so much guidance from them. This industry is rough for young women, and it’s nice to have some industry elders in your corner. I don’t think they’ll love that I called them that – they’re in their 20s.

Who are your fashion icons?

Ella Devi: Joan Didion, for sure. I have her on my phone case. Rama Duwaji is also so chic. 

And what’s inspiring your current style?

Ella Devi: I like my personal style to be a little ironic and over-the-top, like a caricature of a teenage girl from the early 2010s. I wear a ton of vintage Marc Jacobs and I love old Red Valentino lookbooks. I take a lot of inspiration from [Gossip Girl’s] Blair Waldorf. Her outfits are absolutely ridiculous! I’ve loved her style since I was 12.

Finally, where do you see yourself in five years?

Ella Devi: Given that I undergo a right wing smear campaign every six months, in five years I’ll probably have ten more smear campaigns under my belt.