Chiara Ferragni, Fedez Presented With the Ambrogino d’Oro Award
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GOOD INFLUENCE: There’s a line separating fashion influencers from social influencers and Chiara Ferragni crossed it in 2020.
The transition was officially sealed on Monday when the municipality of Milan acknowledged the Italian digital entrepreneur and her husband, the singer Fedez, with its prestigious annual Ambrogino d’Oro award, bestowed to express gratitude for the contribution they gave to the city in such a challenging year.
Named after Milan’s patron Saint Ambrogio, the prize annually recognizes people and associations that stood out for their commitment and work for the common good. In particular, 39 winners have been named this year and will be officially presented with the award on Dec. 7. The prime Great Gold Medal went to all the doctors and health workers who perished during the fight against COVID-19.
Ferragni and Fedez were recognized for the charity initiatives they promoted throughout the year, starting from their personal donation of 100,000 euros that helped support a fund-raiser aimed at creating new hospital beds in the intensive care area of the city’s San Raffaele hospital.
One of the first charity projects to be launched in Italy during the lockdown in March, the fund-raiser had immediate and significant social resonance not only for the direct involvement of the couple but also for the traction they had in inviting their followers to do their part and donate through a link, starting from 5-euro contributions. Their plea resulted in their audience — counting more than 33 million followers combined — helping to raise almost 4.5 million euros for the cause.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Ferragni celebrated their award, sharing a happy selfie with her son Leone flanked by the caption: “This is us since last night, when we read the news. Thank you all for the happiness you’re transmitting to us, it’s been really nice to know that doing good often brings other goodness in the world. And this is only the beginning. Thanks Milan for giving this Ambrogino d’Oro to me and Fedez.”
Beside the fund-raising initiative, the couple’s popularity grew this year as they set the good example during the lockdown, repeatedly exhorting people to be cautious and take all the required measures to fight the health crisis as well as entertaining their audience by sharing their daily life at home or hosting impromptu concerts via Instagram live stories.
Over the summer, the couple — who goes by the moniker “The Ferragnez” — also promoted tourism in Italy, choosing a range of local destinations for their holidays and posting their visits to museums in Florence and Rome or tours of Venice, among others. For this reason, Ferragni was presented with the Leone d’Oro award in Venice in September for “the civic engagement she showed for Italy in this emergency period.”
As the second wave of the virus outbreak hit Italy this fall and the government imposed new restrictions, the couple’s positive influence was acknowledged also by institutions. As revealed in Fedez’s stories on Instagram, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on the couple for help in inviting younger generations to respect the rules and wear sanitary masks.
Yet institutions’ lack of financial support of operators in the music and entertainment industry led the singer to launch the latest initiative on Nov. 13. He united leading names in the Italian music scene and collected their personal donations to establish a fund in aid of music operators and their families. Thanks to the additional involvement and support of brands he collaborates with — including Fendi and Amazon — the initiative has raised more than 2 million euros so far.
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