On a rainy gray Tuesday morning in NYC, mega fashion influencer-turned-entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni sat down with Us at the Bowery Hotel to talk about her documentary, Unposted, launching on Amazon Prime Video on November 29.
Over the years, Ferragni’s grown from a small blog named The Blonde Salad to a multi-million dollar business. The success of her publication led to the launch of her own fashion collection and brand partnerships that helped her land a spot at the peak of the Forbes Top Influencer list.
Unposted was directed by Italian screenwriter Elisa Amoruso and filming took place from September 2018 through January 2019. The 85-minute film recounts how the influencer rose to success, blending home footage from Ferragni’s childhood with recent footage highlighting important moments in the fashion designer’s career.
The documentary recounts several special moments in Ferragni’s journey: like launching her blog in 2009. As the team neared its ten year anniversary, she felt as though a documentary would be a great way to celebrate it. “We were thinking of a way to tell my story,” Ferragni explained in a thick accent, dressed in a colorful and perfectly mismatched Prada ensemble. “I thought it could be inspiring for other people because it’s a story of a small-town girl living her dreams.”
For one of the first times, well, ever, the documentary exposes a vulnerable side of Ferragni that her 17.6 million Instagram followers aren’t used to seeing. “I was scared at first for someone else to tell my story,” she said. “It wasn’t me telling my story as I’m used to on social media, but it was very therapeutic.”
Some of the highs that the documentary touches on include when Harvard University used her platform as a case study on monetizing blogs, her wedding to singer Federico Leonardo Lucia (a.k.a Fedez) and giving birth to her baby boy, Leo in March 2018. For contrast, the filmmaker also makes a point to show the lows, like Ferragni’s pregnancy complications, her messy breakup with her former business partner Riccardo Pozzoli — and the bullying she dealt with at the start of her career.
To stay focused on her goals, Ferragni has a mental hack that’s highlighted in the film. In our 1:1 chat, she admitted that she’s been using it for over three-and-a-half years, when she was dealing with some personal struggles. When faced with a challenge, or just a simple decision, she’ll ask herself, “What would the Chiara I’d like to be do?” She said, “It’s a process a lot of people should think about. It helps you think about what is right for you.”
Besides the documentary, the 32-year-old is focused on rebranding the Chiara Ferragni Collection. “Until now, the brand hasn’t evolved as much as I did,” said Ferragni. “Now, I’m trying to change the identity of the brand to be pop, cool, but also grown-up. She’s also excited to star in the Amazon Originals series, Making the Cut — alongside Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn — coming in 2020.
“I’m very excited that people worldwide will be able to watch [Unposted] now,” Ferragni concluded with a warm smile. “I hope they just watch it and think ‘wow, I need to focus on my dreams as well.’ If people watch it and think that, then I’m super happy.”
