INFLUENCE ON TRIAL

She was once the trailblazing and wealthy style blogger, so how did Chiara Ferragni end up in court on charges of fraud?

- Olivia Petter reports on Blonde Salad's cake-based downfall

For a while, Chiara Ferragni had it all.

A style influencer with a social media account that was earning up to six figures per post. Ambassadorships with Versace, Gucci, and L'Oreal, to name but a few. The 38-year-old Italian magnate had her own fashion, eyewear, fragrance, and beauty lines. A Netflix documentary has been made about her career and life with her famous rapper husband, whom she married in a 19th-century Sicilian palazzo, a wedding featured in American Vogue. A Kardashian-style reality TV series about their family, titled The Ferragnez. There was even a Barbie doll named after her.

And yet, in 2023, the same year that her company was valued at €75m (£65m), Ferragni’s extensive empire came crashing down - over a Christmas cake. Now, she’s facing jail time on charges of aggravated fraud. Dubbed “Pandorogate” by the Italian media, the scandal unfolded after the Italian Competition Authority accused Ferragni of falsely suggesting that proceeds from sales of a special edition Pink Christmas Pandoro cake, a traditional Italian delicacy, that she sponsored would go to a children’s hospital. The cakes were priced three times higher than normal.

An investigation into the finances behind the deal found that the cake manufacturer, Balcoco, donated €50,000 to the hospital and paid Ferragni €1m for her involvement. She was charged at a criminal trial in Milan in November and, if convicted, could face up to five years behind bars. To make matters worse, Ferragni was embroiled in a similar debacle just last year after Italian antitrust authorities investigated misleading communications about a set of Easter eggs sold in connection with children's charities with the fashion mogul's label. According to reports, just $41,650 of the $1.39m that Ferragni and the manufacturer earned went to charity.