Many people love fashion, but for Chiara Ferragni, fashion is a passion! This Italian woman started her own fashion blog in 2009, beginning small but slowly building a major following with fans from all over the world.
Since then, Chiara’s love of fashion has grown exponentially. Her blog became a major success, she was invited to model for major brands, she created her own footwear collection, and she became one of the biggest voices in the fashion world. Here’s the full story of her fabulous life.
Born in Cremona
So where does Chiara Ferragni’s story begin? Well, the first moments of Chiara’s life were in the charming Italian city of Cremona. Situated in the Lombardy region, Cremona is a beautiful place, well-known for its rich history and musical culture.
Chiara was born there on May 7, 1987. Her parents were Marco, a dentist, and Marina, a writer. She was the couple’s first daughter, but they would later have two more girls—Valentina and Francesca—little sisters for Chiara.
A Happy Childhood
Not too much is known about Chiara’s childhood, but from what we know, it seems she had quite a happy and normal upbringing with two loving parents and a pair of sisters she was very close to. All around, they were a very happy family.
Like many children, Chiara was influenced by her parents when it came to taste and lifestyle. Her active, sports-loving father often took his daughters surfing and skiing, and Chiara’s mother shared her love of fashion with her daughters, which would prove to be very important in Chiara’s life.
A Fine Education
As well as being kind and caring, Chiara’s parents were also quite wealthy. They both had good jobs and could afford to give their children the very best in terms of home comforts and life’s opportunities. So Chiara was able to attend a good high school.
After graduating, she decided to move to Milan to study law at the private Bocconi University. She has been outspoken in terms of thanking her parents for the opportunities they were able to provide her. It was while she was studying law that she decided to take her passion for fashion more seriously.
Following Bloggers around the World
Chiara was always interested in fashion. It was an interest her mother had nurtured in her over the years, and it gradually grew into a real passion for this young woman. Since she was young, slim, and beautiful, she enjoyed trying on a variety of styles and outfits and kept up with fashionable trends.
Like many people of her generation, Chiara spent a lot of time online and used social media sites to keep up with news, trends, and developments. She liked following fashion bloggers from all over the world, including France, the United States, and Italy. And she started to wonder if she could do the same thing.
Sharing Her Photos
Chiara didn’t start her own fashion blog right away. She wanted to test the waters of the online world and find out if she had what it took to become an online star. She decided to snap some photos and share them on sites such as Flickr and Lookbook.
Chiara always had a talent for picking pretty outfits and taking lovely photos, so it came as no surprise that her photos were a success. She quickly began attracting the attention of fans and followers, which gave her the confidence she needed to take the next step.
Starting Her Blog
The next step for Chiara was setting up her very own fashion blog. It was a big move, and she was still studying law at the university at the time. But with the huge success of her online photos, she was determined to give it a try.
In 2009, Chiara set up and launched her blog—The Blonde Salad—that proved to be a huge turning point in her life. Of course, she was hopeful that the blog would be a success, but she had no way of knowing how popular it would become.
The Blonde Salad
Chiara chose the name of her fashion blog in part due to her blonde hair and in part because she initially planned to discuss a “salad of subjects,” from fashion to food.
Indeed, in the early days of Chiara’s blog, she planned to post about all sorts of subjects, including travel and beauty. However, as time went by and she became more of a voice in the world of fashion, the blog become increasingly fashion-oriented.
A Little Help from Her Boyfriend
Chiara didn’t start The Blonde Salad on her own. She had some help from Riccardo Pozzoli, her boyfriend at the time. An Italian entrepreneur, Riccardo was studying at the Bocconi Business School when he and Chiara met.
Not a lot is known about Chiara’s relationship with Riccardo, but she did confirm in interviews that they were dating. They co-founded The Blonde Salad, and it is well-known that Pozzoli was quite actively involved in the business at the beginning but gradually moved away from it over time to pursue other projects.
An Important Time in Fashion
When Chiara created The Blonde Salad, the world of fashion was changing in a big way. In the past, when people wanted to find news about fashion, keep up with the latest trends, or look at beautiful outfits, they turned to fashion magazines as their primary source.
Around the time Chiara made her blog, the influence of fashion bloggers was on the rise. All around the globe, more and more people were choosing to get their fashion news and recommendations from bloggers they admired rather than from magazines.
It Took Time to Find Fame
These days, everyone with an interest or passion for fashion has heard of Chiara Ferragni. She’s a huge name and is always on the guest lists of fancy red carpet events and big brand reveals. However, there was a time when Chiara was still mostly unknown.
It took a lot of time and hard work for the Italian fashionista to find her place in the fashion industry. In an interview with The Times, she revealed that there was a time when she had to hang around outside fashion shows and hope someone would notice her. She said, “I was always seeking attention.”
Dropped Out of College
When Chiara started The Blonde Salad, she wasn’t sure if it would really pay off. So she made the smart and sensible decision to carry on with her law studies at the university, just in case.
She wanted to be sure she had something to fall back on in case the fashion blog didn’t work out. “I had studied law and always had a plan B in my pocket,” she said. However, the blog became so successful that she ended up quitting school, despite only having a few exams left to pass.
Building Her Influence
We’re all familiar with the idea of influencers—people with huge online followings who are able to use their status to influence others to do certain things or buy certain products. But the concept of influencer marketing was only just beginning to take off when Chiara set up her blog.
In fact, in many ways she was part of the first big wave of influencers, so she got into the business at just the right time. The more she shared on her blog, the more followers she got, and her level of fame slowly started to rise.
The Moment She Knew
Chiara could see that The Blonde Salad was taking off, and she was finally starting to see some of the success and fame she’d always dreamed of. But when did she truly know she was on the path to stardom? She answered that question in an interview with Remix Magazine.
Chiara explained, “It happened organically, but I remember the turning point. It was when a couture brand contacted me for collaboration because that was one of my dreams coming true!” Chiara was truly proving that working hard can make your dreams come true.
Big Brands Get in Touch
As time went by, Chiara’s blog grew and grew. To expand her influence, she set up other accounts on sites such as Instagram. She was building a huge number of followers and starting to have a real influence in the fashion world.
It didn’t take too long for big brands to start getting in touch with her. Chiara suddenly found herself being contacted by representatives from the likes of Gucci, Prada, and Valentino who were offering her lots of money to share posts and photos about their products.
Some Big Endorsements
Chiara’s rise to the top was not going unnoticed. In 2011, she got some big endorsements from major publications that boosted her fame and made her audience even bigger. In March 2011, New York magazine called her “one of the biggest breakout street-style stars of the year.”
In December 2011, she was called “Blogger of the Moment” in Teen Vogue magazine and was featured with a full profile and interview. That helped introduce Chiara to even more fashion fans around the world, and her online following started to become even bigger and become more significant.
No Need to Shop
From that moment, Chiara’s life started to change in some significant ways. One of the biggest changes that came with her new lifestyle of fame was that she no longer needed to shop for clothes and accessories. Everything was simply given to her.
Chiara has admitted in interviews that she has no need to go shopping in malls or shopping centers in search of the latest fashion trends. She doesn’t even need to order things online. Luxury brands and fancy designers simply send her their latest collections and allow her to pick and choose whatever she wanted.
Always Believed in Herself
These days, Chiara can look back on an amazing list of accomplishments. She’s been called one of the biggest breakout stars of the fashion world who has been studied by Harvard Business School and regarded as one of the most important influencers of modern times.
For many people, all that might come as quite a surprise, but Chiara says she always believed in herself and had faith that she’d be successful. She says she’s “always had a thing about sharing my everyday life” and always thought that taking and sharing pictures “could one day evolve into something bigger.”
Her Influence Grows and Grows
In the months and years that followed, Chiara’s influence grew even more. By 2013, she had won plenty of awards and “Blogger of the Year” honors from various publications and entities. She also entered the list of the “500 Most Influential Fashion People” by fashion expert Imran Amed.
Chiara was also getting more offers for fancy clothes, designer accessories, and other branded goods to be delivered to her doorstep, and her lifestyle was changing in some major ways. She also started to get offers for modeling work with some very big brands.
An Early Experience of Modeling
Chiara is well-known for her good looks. She’s slim, blonde, and beautiful, and she actually got spotted as a potential model quite early in life. In fact, at the age of 16, she was offered to model for a local agency in Italy.
Chiara shared the story on her blog, saying, “At the age of 16 I’ve been chosen by Beatrice Models agency in Milan and I worked with them for some years. I stopped because I found other inspirations, other goals to reach in my life.”
Working with Guess
In 2013, years after she had her first taste of modeling, Chiara was offered a modeling job with the major US fashion brand Guess. She accepted and was involved in a popular ad campaign for the company. After that, more modeling offers began to roll in.
Chiara always had a special talent for picking outfits, matching accessories, and making herself look fabulous. But the world of professional modeling allowed her to simply sit back and relax while big brands and famous designers dressed her up and took stunning photos to show off their products.
Writing an e-Book
It was a noteworthy year for Chiara in 2013. Not only was she offered professional modeling jobs, but she was lauded as one of the biggest bloggers of the time and given all sorts of fancy freebies from world-famous brands. But she also wrote a book!
Her e-book, written in Italian, was called The Blonde Salad after her blog. In her book, Chiara provided readers with a range of fashion tips and style advice, giving fans a guide to becoming more stylish and happy, just like her.
Becoming a Fashion Designer
It might have been a big year for Chiara in 2013, but 2014 was about to become even bigger as she actually entered the world of fashion design. For years, she’d been giving her views on designers, and now she was ready to become one, launching her very own shoe collection.
Chiara worked with American fashion designer Steve Madden to design her 2014 shoe collection. She called her collection Chiara Ferragni Collection footwear, which included a variety of sneakers, shoes, and boots, all designed by Chiara herself.
A Big Success
The Chiara Ferragni Collection was a smashing success. People loved Chiara’s fun and energetic designs, and they sold very well. Chiara had a great time designing and making the shoes and was eager to get started on more fashion projects.
So it came as no surprise when she developed her own unique fashion brand with a custom logo—a large, cartoonish eye with big eyelashes. The logo has become synonymous with Chiara and appears on many of her latest products.
Her First TV Job
Chiara Ferragni had gone from fashion blogger to model, and now she was also a fashion designer! But she wasn’t finished. In the summer of 2014, she entered the world of television.
Chiara was invited to host the Italian TRL Awards, which has since been renamed the MTV Italian Music Awards. The 2014 edition of the show was filmed at the Parco delle Cascine where Chiara shared presenting duties with other Italian celebrities such as Chiara Francini and Pif.
Saying No to Reality TV
As Chiara became more and more famous, she started to receive a variety of offers. She even got some offers to appear on some reality TV programs, and it would have been easy for her to say yes.
When people start to become famous, that fame can go to their heads and cause them to start saying yes to everything, regardless of how it might affect their image or reputation. But Chiara was different. She knew she needed to be careful, so she turned down most of the offers she got.
Choosing Her Projects Carefully
Chiara did still want to try some kind of TV work, but she didn’t want to say yes to everything. Instead, she took the time to read through the proposals, find out more about the projects, and make decisions based on what she thought would be best for her image and career.
One of the projects she was happy to work on was the competitive design show Making the Cut. On the first season of the show, she was one of the judges, working alongside the likes of Naomi Campbell, Carine Roitfeld, and Nicole Richie.
Knowing What She Wants
One thing that has always defined Chiara is her confidence. She’s a very independent person who knows what she wants and will take the correct action to try to make it happen. In an interview with Fashion Week Daily, she explained how this approach to life informed her TV career.
“People always wanted me to do reality television or other things that weren’t right for me and I said no,” Chiara explained. She did, however, say yes to a couple of other projects. For example, she appeared as a guest judge on Project Runway in 2014 and was a guest judge on Germany’s Next Topmodel.
The First Instagram Star on the Cover of Vogue
She may have started off small with her first taste of modeling, but years later, Chiara made modeling history. In 2015, she was featured on the cover of Vogue Spain, becoming the first Instagram personality to achieve such an impressive feat. And that’s not all!
Chiara has become an extremely successful model in many ways. She’s been on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Brasil, Vanity Fair, Grazia, and many other high-profile magazines. In fact, she’s one of the most photographed and recognizable influencers in the world of fashion.
An Inspiration in Education
One of the most amazing things about Chiara is that her incredible rise to stardom actually inspired the creation of an entire college course at the prestigious Harvard Business School, which is known as one of the best places to study on the planet.
Harvard Business School professors created a course all about Chiara to show how she built her business from the ground up and chart her rise to success. Her story has been a true inspiration to many people, including the students who take the Harvard course. They were asked to discuss and analyze how this young blogger built an online empire.
Millions of Dollars
Chiara came from a wealthy family, so she always had quite a comfortable life. However, when The Blonde Salad really took off and her modeling, design, and TV careers also exploded, she started to make incredible amounts of money.
The media reported that she earned around $8 million in 2014, thanks in large part to the success of her footwear collection. And in the years since then, Chiara has earned even more money from her fashion label, modeling contracts, and influencer posts on social media.
A Brand Ambassador
By 2016, Chiara was an incredibly recognizable person in the world of fashion and style. She’d appeared in dozens of fashion magazines, won countless awards, inspired Harvard University to make a course about her, and worked with legendary designers.
So it was no surprise when some major brands came calling to ask Chiara if she would be their ambassador. In 2016, she agreed to become the ambassador for hair care brand Pantene. Later that year, she was made the face of the Amazon Fashion Spring 2016 collection.
Her Very Own Barbie
You know you’ve made it big when a toy company makes an actual doll of you, and that’s exactly what happened to Chiara Ferragni in 2016! Mattel, one of the biggest toy companies in the world, decided to make a Barbie version of Chiara.
The company ended up making two variants of the Chiara Ferragni Barbie. One of them was wearing a full Chanel outfit, and the other wore a classic Chiara-style outfit, including a white T-shirt, black jacket, cool jeans, and some of Chiara’s own brand footwear.
Chiara Was Thrilled with Her Barbie Doll
Chiara has had a lot of achievements in her life, but the Barbie doll was a big personal success for her. She made quite a few posts about the adventure on her Instagram account, talking about how excited she was about the doll.
In one post, Chiara took a selfie with her very own Barbie and wrote, “I’m a Barbie girl. Now I can really sing this song. Mattel created Barbie Chiara (the one on the right) and she obviously loves taking selfies.” It sounds like Chiara and her Barbie make a great team!
Choosing Partnerships Carefully
Since she’s so famous these days, Chiara can be very selective, not only about what she wears and which accessories she chooses for her outfits but also about the brands and businesses she decides to work with.
Chiara says she doesn’t accept just any deal that comes along. “I like to work with brands who share my positivity and values,” she stated. She thinks carefully before making any big decision, choosing to work with brands she loves the most such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, and Sunglass Hut.
Expanding Her Brand
When she first started in fashion design, Chiara made less than 10 shoe designs for her debut collection. But since then, her brand has grown astronomically, and she has many products out there.
She has expanded her brand of footwear and clothing massively, and she is working with Sunglass Hut to start her own line of sunglasses. She even has her own line of makeup, crafted with the help of Lancome. There are so many ways for Chiara’s fans to share her style and show their adoration of her.
She Even Created a Coffee Machine
In 2021, Chiara expanded into the world of food and drink. She decided to team up with Nespresso, becoming the new face of the brand after George Clooney moved on. She helped design a brand new coffee machine with her signature style.
Appearing in ads for Nespresso, Chiara is seen preparing a small cup of coffee for herself using the items from her collection, all decorated with her distinctive logo. A pop-up café event was even launched in Milan to celebrate Chiara and Nespresso working together.
A Staggering Net Worth
Have you ever wondered what Chiara Ferragni’s net worth is nowadays after so many years of success? Well, she’s been valued by experts at around $10 million, which is quite impressive for a girl who came from such a simple start.
When Chiara’s journey began, she was just a law student who was showing off some of her fun photos online. But in just over a decade, she managed to become everything from a magazine cover star to a TV host, a fashion designer, a brand partner, and a global influencer. It’s no surprise that she’s worth so much money!
Making Her Own Documentary
Chiara even made her own documentary, teaming up with Amazon Prime to share it with the world. The documentary, called Unposted, talks all about Chiara’s life and her career. Chiara said that in making the documentary, she wanted to show off the reality of her life and the behind-the-scenes aspects that many people don’t see.
Chiara explained the thinking behind her decision in an interview with Vogue. “When we started talking about making the documentary, it was very important to show the business part because I feel most people, even if you follow me 100% every day, don’t really understand what I do.”
Chiara’s Love Life
So, how are things in Chiara’s love life? After all, such a beautiful style icon surely has lots of male admirers. She started The Blonde Salad with the help of her then-boyfriend, Italian businessman Riccardo Pozzoli.
Chiara and Riccardo were together for a few years and worked to make The Blonde Salad a big success. However, they grew apart over time and eventually separated. But Chiara didn’t have to wait too long to find love again.
A Magical Tattoo
When she was single, Chiara decided to get a new tattoo. She opted for a pair of lions on her arm, saying, “I tattooed two lions on the back of my right arm; a male lion and a female lion, which meant true love to me.”
The very next day, Chiara found love! A famous Italian rapper named Federico Lucia, known as Fedez, got in touch with her and asked her out for dinner. They had their first date a week later and instantly felt a special connection.
A Dramatic Proposal
Chiara and Fedez dated for a while and fell in love. It didn’t take too long for Fedez to think about asking Chiara to marry him, but since the couple both liked to do things in large, impressive ways, he knew the proposal had to be something special.
On Chiara’s 30th birthday, Fedez was hosting a concert. He invited Chiara to come along and then surprised her by bringing her up on stage and singing a brand new song he’d written just for her. Then he got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage.
A Wonderful Wedding
The proposal was incredible, so the wedding between Chiara Ferragni and Fedez was also destined to be an amazing affair. And it certainly lived up to the hype, with Chaira wowing onlookers as she got to wear not one but two wedding gowns!
She wore one gown for the ceremony and another for the reception. Later, she shared plenty of pictures online for her fans and followers to admire. A few years later on the couple’s third anniversary, Chiara wrote a lovely caption under one of the pictures: “Three years ago I married the man of my life, and it was one of the best days I’ve ever experienced.”
Two Beautiful Children
In recent years, Chiara has also become a mother. She gave birth to her first child with Fedez in 2018. They named him Leone in honor of Chiara’s famous lion tattoo. The pair welcomed a second child, Vittoria, in 2021.
Chiara says her life has changed greatly since becoming a mom. “My priorities have changed a lot. My family always comes first. And I became more careful. Because I always think that nothing should happen to my son. I have become a little more anxious.”
Living Life to the Fullest
Worth millions of dollars, idolized by the fashion community, partnered with countless brands, and on the cover of dozens of magazines, Chiara Ferragni has truly become a celebrated figure of the fashion world. She deserves a lot of credit for rising to the top of the fashion industry.
These days, Chiara is living life to the fullest, providing happiness and joy for her children and spending time between a massive Milan apartment and a stunning Beverly Hills home. She has a life of luxury that she earned through years of hard work. Her story shows that dreams do come true with persistence, hard work, and the right attitude.