The Chiara Effect

What’s really real on social media? How do the dynamics of blogging work? Vogue speaks to the world’s most coveted social media star— Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad—on why she and the generation she represents #neverstop.

- Rujuta Vaidya

Chiara Ferragni seems to live on a plane. While geographically she splits her time between LA and Milan, calling both cities home, Ferragni, the world’s most influential blogger, is always on the go since she started TheBlondeSalad.com in 2009 with then boyfriend Riccardo Pozzoli. Posting in Italian and English, the blog (which at the time didn’t include the different social media extensions it does today) focused primarily on fashion, photography and travel along with her wardrobe choices.

“I came up with the name The Blonde Salad because I wanted something that represented me. Back then, I was even blonder… like, blonde blonde. And I wanted my blog to be a mixture of everything, like a salad: fashion, lifestyle, my travels, my friends, all of my experiences,” says the 29-year-old.

With her debut, Ferragni joined an already competitive arena that was making industry names out of Susie Lau of Stylebubble.co.uk and Jane Aldrige of Seaofshoes.com, both of who launched in 2006, followed by the wunderkid Tavi Gevinson of Thestylerookie.com in 2008. But Ferragni, with her religious documentation of her outings and love for consuming fashion, struck a chord with her audience on a global scale.

She rose up the ranks swiftly, bagging accolades such as ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the very first Bloglovin’ Awards in 2011, launching her eponymous shoe label in 2012, reaching her first million followers on Instagram, earning a spot on the prestigious Business of Fashion 500 list of global influencers in 2013, making the Forbes ‘30 under 30’ list and the cover of Vogue Spain in 2015. Last year she achieved the business holy grail—a chance to speak to MBA students at Harvard Business School.