How Italy turned on influencers in the wake of a charity Christmas cake scandal

With a fraud investigation into Chiara Ferragni under way, she and fellow social media stars are under sharp scrutiny

Chiara Ferragni amassed a fortune through incessant selfie-taking as part of a marketing strategy that included imparting pearls of wisdom to her millions of online followers on how to be effortlessly cool".

But now the influencer - one of Italy's most powerful - is struggling to maintain her own prestige after a scandal over a Christmas cake triggered a fraud investigation, leaving her empire teetering on the edge in what has become a cautionary tale for other social media stars.