When fashion designer Chiara Ferragni joined the board of directors of Italian luxury brand Tod’s, the shares of the firm surged by 12 percent. Mother of two, Ms. Ferragni is 34 years old and has more than 26 million followers on Instagram. She is one of the most well-known fashion influencers in the world, with a special focus on Europe. Her enterprises include a clothing line as well as a talent management firm.
Not bad for a former fashion blogger who is still referred to as “the Blonde Salad” — despite the fact that few people use the term “blogger” anymore. If they do, it is almost always a blunder. Most likely, they are referring to a “influencer” or a “creator.”
These phrases, on the other hand, are fundamentally the same — they were just adopted at various points in recent history. They are all individuals that create internet content for a living while getting inspiration from their personal lives: their wardrobes, their engagements, their sponsored holidays, and their interest in bitcoin, for example. Twenty years ago, this information was published on platforms such as WordPress, and the reach of the content was impossible to determine. Now, most of the action takes place on TikTok, where the analytics, such as likes, comments, and shares, are much more easily available.
It’s possible that if Chiara Ferragni hadn’t started blogging in 2009, so-called creators like Addison Rae, a 21-year-old nascent actress with 86 million followers on TikTok (the app’s fourth most followed account) would not have found themselves in the front row at Michael Kors last Tuesday — the most glitzy show of New York Fashion Week — just a few feet away from Ms. Ferragni. ”
This is due to the fact that Ms. Ferragni was part of the first wave of fashion bloggers to raise a stir in the industry. At the time, a single post from her, Bryanboy, or Garance Doré might have the commercial weight of a full-page advertisement in a high-end publication. As these early influencers started attending runway events, they soon found themselves sitting next to the editors of those glossy magazines, who were formerly in a position of authority.
It was clear that the fashion establishment was not amused by this arrangement for a long time. In the lobby of the Bowery Hotel last week, as New York Fashion Week came to a close, Ms. Ferragni reflected on the past. “People used to be snooty about anything coming from the internet,” she remarked.
Ms. Ferragni and her husband Fedez, an Italian rapper who proposed to her onstage in 2017, were the stars of “The Ferragnez,” a reality programme that aired on Amazon Prime in Italy last year and was one of the top original series in the country. The couple’s wedding coverage in 2018 was on par with that of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, and they let cameras inside their marital therapy sessions throughout the first season of their programme. Mrs. Ferragni believes that it is vital to not always present a pleasant, flawless existence on social media.
Since then, the jewellery collection has grown to include necklaces, bracelets, and rings, with each piece featuring her blocky “V” mark as its centrepiece. Only a handful of people, all of whom are under the age of 30, work for the firm, which claims that everything is manufactured in-house and by hand. It is carried by 400 jewellery merchants in Italy, as well as the Rinascente department store.
Valentina and Chiara bear a striking resemblance to one another, as is customary for famous sisters – they both have long, middle-parted hair, piercing blue eyes that are often lacquered with shimmering eye makeup, and candy-colored high-end clothing.
Valentina, on the other hand, had aspirations to be an architect or an interior designer before to Chiara’s blogging success, according to her. Chiara and her sister attended their first runway show in Milan approximately seven years ago and she recalls being “shaky because I didn’t know what to do,” wearing a denim jumpsuit and a cap while posing for shots with her sister, whose confidence in front of the cameras she wished she could match.
“It was really difficult when we were young and just getting started,” Mr. Damato said. Not only is this changing as a result of Ms. Ragazzi’s support for Chiara, but also as a result of the developing network of young designers, like Giuliano Calza of GCDS and Gilda Ambrosio and Giorgia Tordini of the Attico, who are all working to change the fashion industry.
Chiara claims that the elder generation in Italian fashion “knows each other and respects each other,” but they “do not want to work together.” “I think our age is more accepting of one another.”
This, according to Chiara, represents a new way of doing business in Italy. And it’s wonderful news for her sister Valentina, who is attempting to maintain a strong relationship with her sister but still forging her own career.
“I truly would for people to realise that we are two distinct individuals who have two different companies, two different societies, and two different brands,” Valentina expressed her desire for people to understand that she and her sister are two different persons. “However, we support one another. Perhaps we’ll work together on something in the future.”
