Elle Vandenberghe earned hers before she turned five.

At just three years old, Elle’s life was upended by a car accident caused by a reckless driver. Neurologists warned her family that she would likely never walk or talk again. What followed was nearly a year in the hospital that included multiple brain surgeries and months of grueling physical therapy.  But then, against every prediction, Elle walked back through the doors of her kindergarten classroom.

That’s where she found art.

Her first painting came home from school shortly after:  a joyful explosion of color in the spirit of Jackson Pollock. It wasn’t just a kindergartener’s craft project. The girl who wasn’t supposed to speak had found her voice.

Elle grew up in love with art and fashion. At ten, she painted her first pair of denim shorts as a Mother’s Day gift, a one-of-a-kind piece made with love and an instinct for beauty. Word spread the way it does when someone is genuinely talented: slowly, then all at once. Friends and family asked for pieces. Then people who had only heard about her work inquired too.

After creating a small Etsy business in her garage, Elle graduated from high school just months after her home and school burned in the 2025 Palisades wildfire, along with her first collection.  Still, she kept going. Today Elle is channeling everything she has into her new venture, ELLE RIDER, making one of a kind items that bring joy.

ELLE RIDER creates personalized, hand-painted denim pieces — wearable art made for people who want something that could only exist for them.

Elle does this, she says, because “I like to make things that make people happy.”