PARIS, France — This week, we set our sights on two women from the BoF 500 community — albeit, two very different women — who have built massive online followings and spin-off endeavors around the success of their blogs.

Colin McDowell sat down with longtime friend and supporter of BoF, Diane Pernet, whose blog, A Shaded View on Fashion, was one of the very first to appear on the fashion media landscape. Way before the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, I remember Diane posting realtime images from her simple Nokia smartphone. While Diane has moved with the times and is now an avid Twitter and Facebook user, one thing hasn't changed: she still calls it like she sees it. Her conversation with Colin McDowell was no exception.

We also spoke to The Blonde Salad's Chiara Ferragni. It's easy to dismiss Ms Ferragni as just another fashion blogger who takes selfies and attends parties to be photographed. But dig a bit deeper and you'll see that the lawyer-in-training has taken her blog, by far the most prominent to come out of Italy, and grown it into a burgeoning fashion media company, which this week announced a partnership with mobile marketplace Depop. In our latest instalment of The Business of Blogging, Chiara spoke to us about this new partnership, as well as the rise of her blog to superstar status.

It's back to the shows for me, but enjoy your weekend and our top posts from the week gone by:

Colin's Column | Diane Pernet, the Shaded Lady
Colin McDowell speaks to Diane Pernet, the perennially black-clad former designer and journalist, who was one of the world's first fashion bloggers and a pioneer of fashion film.

Op-Ed | Can the Current Media Environment Produce an Honest Critic?
The problem with fashion criticism isn't the lack of honest opinion, but the lack of places to publish it, argues Jason Dike.

A Silver Lining to Australia's Fashion Crisis?
Under pressure from international competition, unaffordable real estate and manufacturing woes, Australia's fashion industry is facing a crisis. But there are signs of hope amidst the gloom.

Baja East's 'Ambisex' Loose Luxury Strikes a Chord
Less than six months after launch, new American label Baja East's "loose luxury" styles, rooted in comfort and travel, are striking a chord with influential buyers and customers alike.

The Business of Blogging | The Blonde Salad
Next up in our series on influential bloggers and the businesses they have built, BoF speaks to Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad, as she prepares to launch a collaboration with mobile marketplace app Depop.

And don't forget, check out BoF Weekly, a week in review published with Flipboard and updated every Saturday.

Imran Amed
Founder and Editor-in-Chief