To all appearances, it was business as usual for Chiara Ferragni, the Italian fashion-blogger-turned-mega-influencer, this summer. Shooting a campaign in Mexico, watching Schiaparelli’s couture show in Paris, flitting from one luxe hotel to another, posing with a handsome man her followers believe is her new boyfriend... every moment was shared, as always, with her 28.3m Instagram followers.
But on 23 September, the 38-year-old arrived at the imposing Court of Milan for an event unlikely to bag a spot on the grid. The date marked the start of her pre-trial hearing over charges of aggravated fraud related to Pandoro Christmas cakes (dubbed ‘Pandorogate’ by the Italian media), which saw Ferragni’s phenomenally lucrative career come crashing down in 2023. If found guilty, she could face up to five years in prison.
It’s been a spectacular fall from grace for one of the OG global influencers. Previously, she had been earning an estimated $100,000 for every post, had a Barbie doll named after her and was the subject of a Netflix documentary with her rapper ex-husband.
But behind the continued curation of her life for social media, the past 18 months have been spent scrambling to repair her public image. She has stepped down as CEO of her holding company. Her flag- ship store in Milan closed quietly last summer. Even if she’s acquitted, it’s doubtful her brand can ever recover.
So, how did it come to this? In 2009, when she first started her blog, The Blonde Salad – the ‘salad’ reflecting her mix of topics, such as beauty, travel and lifestyle – she was a law student trying to break into the fashion industry she described as ‘snobby’. Nevertheless, it took off, thanks to her work ethic, personality and accessibility; she happily shared details of her personal life. ‘I don’t care about having that much privacy,’ she said. ‘I love sharing, it’s a good feeling.’
‘She stood out as one of the first influencers to transcend territories,’ says Sara McCorquodale, author and founder of the influencer intelligence platform Corq. ‘People from different cultures were drawn to her and, from the earliest stages, she took a business approach to building a brand.’
Ambassadorships with brands such as Gucci, Versace, Bulgari and L’Oréal followed, along with her own fashion label, Chiara Ferragni Collection, and eyewear, fragrance and beauty lines. When she married Federico Leonardo Lucia, aka Fedez, Italy’s biggest rapper, in 2018, it cemented her status as a celebrity. Italy’s version of the Kardashians (Ferragni’s sisters are influencers, too), they starred in their own reality TV show, The Ferragnez, along with their adorable children, Leone and Vittoria.
In 2023, an Italian firm valued Fenice, Ferragni’s company, at €75m (£65m), before buying a 25% stake. But then came the accusation by the Italian Competition Authority that she had falsely suggested that proceeds from sales of a special edition Pink Christmas Pandoro cake (a traditional, star- shaped Italian sweetbread) that she sponsored would go to a children’s hospital.
Instead, an investigation found that cake manufacturer Balocco made a one-off €50,000 donation to the hospital, while paying Ferragni €1m for the collaboration. The fact that the cakes were three times more expensive than normal Pandoros poured more fuel on the rapidly spreading social media fire. To make matters even worse, similar allegations were then made about sales of an Easter egg in 2021.
Ferragni paid a fine of €1m, as well as making donations of €1m to the hospital and €1.2m to a charity for disabled children (the official beneficiary of the Easter egg sales.) She also agreed to pay €150 each to Pandoro buyers and donate €200,000 to a women’s charity.
None of it was enough to salvage her reputation, however. A video she posted on Instagram, in which she described the alleged fraud as a ‘communication error’, landed terribly with her followers. Coca- Cola cancelled their deals with her and the previously announced investment in her company never went through. At the same time, her marriage to Fedez ended, amid rumours of infidelity.
Milan magistrates claim consumers were ‘damaged’ with ‘misleading information’ and that Ferragni not only made an ‘unjust profit’ but burnished her image via the partnerships. Her lawyers insist the case has ‘no criminal relevance’, adding, ‘The innocence of our client will certainly be established.’
There’s a chance it may not come to trial; the pre-trial hearing judge could choose not to proceed with a full trial. But even the hearing promises to be quite the production. Ferragni’s co-defendants are her former right-hand man Fabio Damato and Francesco Cannillo, president of Cerealitalia- ID, which made the Easter eggs. Alessandra Balocco, the CEO of the confectionery company, was also charged, but died last month after a long illness.
Is it excessive? Journalist Selvaggia Lucarelli, who wrote the initial article casting doubt on whether sales of the cakes would result in donations to the hospital, thinks so. Earlier this year, she said Ferragni ‘has paid enough’ – not just financially, but also in the court of public opinion. McCorquodale agrees, view- ing the case as symptomatic of the lack of regulation of influencers’ activities. ‘For a long time, this industry hasn’t been taken seriously and the legal framework around it is abysmal, which means situations like this were always going to happen,’ she says.
‘Many influencers are also surrounded by people who are commercially opportunistic and lack professionalism. Chiara’s team may not have known what she did was legally unsound – and they may not have cared.’
Last year, Italy passed a law, popularly known as the Ferragni Law, to regulate influencers with more than a million followers to combat false advertising. For McCorquodale, this makes far more sense than prosecuting one influencer and hoping the case deters others. ‘I hope they don’t intend to make a scapegoat of her, because it’s lazy and unfair,’ she says. When she arrives for her encounter with the third criminal section of Milan’s court, no doubt Ferragni will be praying the judge agrees.
Polly Dunbar is a feature writer and contributing editor to Grazia. She is a solo mum and pop culture nerd and writes about everything from global politics to the enduring legacy of the Beckhams’ purple wedding outfits.