Italian eyewear maker Safilo Group announced it was ending a licensing agreement with top fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni, who has come under fire for misleading advertising on charity initiatives. The multi-year deal for the design, production, and distribution of Chiara Ferragni-branded glasses was interrupted “following the violation of contractual commitments undertaken by the brand owner,” Safilo said in a statement. The influencer was sanctioned as the regulator found that consumers had been duped into thinking that by buying a Ferragni-branded Christmas cake they were contributing to charity for a children’s hospital. AGCM said that Ferragni was paid 1 million euros for the branding initiative, but gave no money to the hospital, which received a fixed-sum donation of 50,000 euros from the cake-maker, not linked to sales. Ferragni, one of the world’s most famous fashion influencers with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram, has been pilloried over the affair, with criticism coming even from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

February 2024