5 Facts You Have to Know about Aquazzura
This shoe brand has been worn by Emma Stone, Gigi Hadid, Poppy Delevigne and many other celebrities. It is also loved by royals – the Princess of Wales and Queen Letizia of Spain are just two examples, and the shoe also had cameos in movies such as House of Gucci or James Bond. The signature details such as the small bow in the back of the shoe or the pineapple on the sole have become as famous as Christan Louboutin’s red sole he buckles of Roger Vivier or Manolo Blahnik. But who actually is behind this brand? Let’s look into the five basic facts you absolutely have to know about this Italian shoe brand.
You can also watch my video here:
1. Who Is behind Aquazzura?
Aquazzura was founded by Edgardo Osorio and Ricardo De Almeida Figueiredo who are also partners in life. The two founders are not casting the spotlight on themselves, if you find interviews, it is mostly with Osorio and there is also more publicly available information about him. Edgardo Osorio was born in Cartagena, Colombia. While his exact birth date could not be confirmed for this article, he was most likely be in 1986. His partner De Almeida Figueiredo is 14 years older and from Portugal where he worked as a publicist for luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Cartier. Osorio has a very international life, he was raised in Miami and London. He enrolled in a summer course at Central Saint Martins in London when he was only 15 and also did some shorter work at René Caovilla and Roberto Cavalli. He started an accessories programme at the London College of Fashion but dropped out to work for Salvatore Ferragamo himself, about whom he still has fond memories.[1]
Edgardo Osorio, the co-founder and creative director of Aquazzura.
According to Osorio, the main driver to start his own shoe brand was that he was missing beautiful things in fashion – he felt that everything in fashion was depressed and messy at the beginning of the 2010s. But he thinks this is absolute nonsense: People need beauty and he wanted to create something positive and happy. Osorio and De Almeida Figueiredo founded the brand in Osorio’s apartment in 2011/2012 (there conflicting articles about the exact founding date) and from then on, the trajectory was steep – soon, the shoes were sold at Saks Fifth Avenue or online on Net-a-Porter. One of their first clients was former Vogue-editor Lauren Santo Domingo who tried on the shoes and then agreed to a trunk show. After that, she immediately ordered the whole collection for her online platform Moda Operandi.[2]
Edgardo Osorio says that his brand’s mantra is “living your best life” [3]. Many people thought he was crazy when he founded the business during a recession but he thinks that especially in tough times we need something positive, something upbeat. Osorio considers travelling his biggest privilege, as it shapes his taste, work and points of view. “I really believe that we were made to see the world, to experience the adventure.”[4] Osorio also lives after a quote by John F. Kennedy who said that crisis also means opportunity and that human beings are most creative during difficult times because we have no other choice but trying and surviving.[5]
Aquazzura stores always come with whimsical interior design. Aquazzura store in Madrid.
Osorio says that he always had a big passion for interior design and if he had not ended up in fashion, this would have probably been his calling. This passion is very obvious even at Aquazzura: their stores have their unique interior designs. Furthermore, Osorio also loves to host memorable events, often themed, and then the whole event is built around it. Does this also remind you of Karl Lagerfeld? Also remember that, we need this background information a bit further down.[6]
2. Selling the Italian Dream
When you hear “Aquazzura” what does immediately come to mind? Italy. While many articles say that “Aquazzura” means “blue water” in Italian, it is actually a construct of two words letting us infer the meaning. Let’s be precise: “acqua” means “water” in Italian, “azzura” means “blue” and then they were merged into one word. There is also a popular song from the 1960s called “Acqua azzura, acqua chiara” (“Blue Water, Clear Water) by Lucio Battisti and when you listen to it, you can hear that “acqua” and “azzura” almost merge when said fast and then it sounds like “aquazzura”. (Notice also the difference in writing: Aquazzura dropped the “c” in “acqua”.)
The concept of the brand was born on a terrace of the JK Place Hotel in Capri in 2011. Osorio said that he looked out onto the water and saw the blue and this is when the word “Aquazzura” came to his mind. He made the conscious decision to not use his name for the brand, as he wanted to build a lifestyle brand selling the Italian way of life – la dolce vita, beauty, joy. With that in mind, this was the better choice. Furthermore, Osorio mentioned in an interview that if a designer uses their name, people relate the person to the brand, they cannot really picture anything else beyond that. Given that he wanted to build on this longing for Italy, this brand name allows him the flexibility to do that and the freedom to create the brand’s own universe. Osorio also mentions in interviews that he does not want to be a “rockstar designer”. He says that people recognize him but he did not want the brand to be about him. The shoes – and the story – should be the stars.[7]
The “place of birth” of Aquazzura – the JK Place Hotel overlooking the ocean in Capri.
Aquazzura’s logo is a pineapple which is also put on the sole of each shoe. While this may not be obvious at first sight, this is another link to Italy, as it is a symbol for hospitality and, like in many other countries, it is often a lucky charm and related to wealth, good fortune and fertility. This also reflects the important role of symbolism for Osorio. He himself started collecting all things with pineapples –cufflinks, porcelain, lamps – and friends also gifted him pineapple items. According to Osorio, who is a big believer in energy, you should wear a pineapple every day, hence the idea of also putting the fruit on the sole of the shoes to spread the positive energy from top to bottom.[8]
3. Ferragamo + Weddings + New York = Aquazzura
As mentioned previously, Osorio worked for Ferragamo but soon realized that, naturally, he had to work within the brand’s DNA. As he wanted to have more creative freedom, he realized that he had to venture out on his own to create designs how he envisioned them: playful, and also bit ironic. In addition to the unique design, he also emphasizes the comfort of his shoes. Many interviews mention the story that one summer, he attended 12 weddings and the ladies complained about their uncomfortable shoes. Why not create beautiful shoes which are comfortable at the same time? On a trip to New York, he browsed the department stores and knew that he was onto something. He felt there was no voice from his generation – most of the shoe designers at the time were in their forties and fifties. He worked with an experienced technician to mold the first prototypes with a focus on even distribution of the body weight throughout the foot and also including padding in the right places. Until today, he marries beauty with comfort. This is very interesting considering what I mentioned in my article about Christian Louboutin who has a completely different view. Osorio says that sometimes members of his team try out the shoes for a few weeks to be able to share feedback and check if the shoe is comfortable. I do find that Aquazzura shoes are more comfortable than others, but I think that Manolo Blahnik shoes rank at the top also when it comes to comfort but I think Aquazzura is coming up close. Needless to say, high heels are not orthopedic shoes or sneakers, hence, I do not expect them to be comfortable when I wear them the whole day.[9]
Osorio says the reason that many celebrities choose Aquazzura is that not only do they look great, they look good on the red carpet and they can walk. “I design shoes so that you look your best, that you are comfortable,”[10] Osorio explains. Furthermore, he says that it is very important to put on a shoe because only then does the design come to life. He thinks that lot of shoe designers create shoes as objects but when you try them on, it does not always work. His shoes are supposed to achieve the opposite: They come to life when you wear them. (By the way, Aquazzura even made Moon Boots, if you are not a fan of high heels.)[11]
4. Design Approach
Osorio’s shoes – and accessories – are real conversation starters. They look whimsical – sometimes more or less subtly. It may be a tiny detail like the little bow on the back of the shoe, or the shoe itself may be a bold statement such as the Papillon or Tequila sandals or the Bougainvillea collection.[12]
An important part of the Aquazzura-DNA is timelessness:
“I wanted to make things that felt different, that were timeless, strong and recognisable. For me, that’s luxury: something that will really stand the test of time, that you can keep for years and hand down to your children.”[13]
When it comes to his bag designs, Osorio mentioned in an interview in 2023 that it seems that the market is still big on logos, but those who prefer this are not his target audience. The Aquazzura-client appreciates a subtler bag which cannot be found in every store everywhere and which is carried by everybody else.
“The concept of the ‘It’ bag has changed these days. There are so many that are popular, and things get burned very easily on social media. A bag can be ‘It’ for a month and then it’s gone! And so many ‘It’ bags end up becoming fashion roadkill over time. It’s difficult to keep that momentum going for very long.”[14] Therefore, his bags, and similarly his shoes, are not trendy but they are modern and have an attitude. Osorio emphasizes the proportions and says that he wants to use materials which age well. This is definitely something I appreciate and I do think that also their older designs still look really cool today.[15]
5. Business Model – What Can We Learn from Aquazzura’s Success?
The brand’s business and distribution model is very clear: Aquazzura products are sold via DTC (direct-to-consumer) channels – their website or their stores – or through wholesale channels via selected retailers (the big department stores or MyTheresa.com are some examples). Furthermore, the brand’s marketing focuses a lot on social media, partnerships and events.
From the beginning, the business has been very US-driven. The brand basically started out in America, which makes a lot of sense: Aquazzura sells the “Italian dream”. Since the 1950s, Italy has been a place of longing for many Americans and movies such as Roman Holiday lay the groundwork for the country to become a popular holiday destination for Americans. Think about all the more or less cheesy movies of Americans moving to Italy. It was smart, because it is probably easier to sell that dream outside of Europe – some say Osorio sells a romanticized version of it because he himself is not Italian, he only moved there and fell in love with the country. But maybe this is exactly why he can communicate this brand story so well and why the customers can relate to it. I think it is probably tougher to sell the “Italian dream” as a foreigner to Italians. Another business following a similar strategy is La Double J, by JJ Martins, an American living in Milan who also uses a very smart branding strategy.[16]
Another big driver is the business in the Middle East where they focused a lot on party and wedding shoes. Osorio says that they learn in each region and then target what has worked best for them there. While Osorio mentioned in previous interviews that Asia was not the brand’s focus, there may currently be a push towards a heavy expansion towards the Far East. And, of course, Europeans and shoe aficionados in all parts of the world also love the designs.[17]
“I don’t think there’s a country in the world where they aren’t in love with the idea of Italy and the culture, the style, the food and the wine. It’s very easy to understand and to want. There’s such a joy of enjoying life. And I think it’s something that’s very appreciated in all markets.”[18]
According to the research for this article, the brand is still owned by Osorio and de Almeida Figueiredo and is self-funded. It is a private company, hence, information about it is rare. (The most recent information was from 2022, where it was mentioned in an article that the brand was still self-funded.) In an interview, Osorio commented that he is not against raising outside investment. Given the rapid expansion, I would not be surprised, if a big investment would take place soon. Another hint may also be that the business has diversified: from a shoe brand into bags, accessories and homeware, men’s shoes and there is a collaboration with the Hotel de Russie in Rome. (For this article, the latter could not be confirmed – if it has taken place already or if this is in planning.) This partnership with a hotel shows that the brand is also looking into hospitality, another piece of the lifestyle puzzle. But this diversification probably did not happen to please investors. According to Osorio, he always wanted Aquazzura to be more than just a shoe or accessories brand – he wanted to create a lifestyle brand. Nevertheless, this diversification would definitely make it more attractive for investors. According to the online magazine Prestige, Aquazzura was available at 300 leading retailers in 58 countries in 2024 and sales that year reached €70 million. (In the course of the research of this article, these numbers could not be backed up, as there are no publicly available financial documents for the company, hence, we need to rely on this article.)[19]
A key factor for the brand’s success is their collaborations with other brands and celebrities. Swaroski is one example: For the Aura collection, the heel was decorated with big Swarovski crystals. Another partnership was with Ferragamo about which Osorio is particularly proud given his background. Aquazzura also collaborated with the Mandarin Oriental hotel group for slippers – maybe another first step into hospitality? But their power is not only the links to other brands, but also their network of celebrity fans. It is rarely mentioned explicitly, but Osorio seems to be a great networker. And considering De Almeida Figueiredo’s background in communications, this success cannot be attributed to Osorio only. It can be assumed that his partner also plays a big role in publicizing the brand and networking. Osorio mentioned in an interview that in the beginning, they did not have the capital to send shoes to celebrities but they used social media wisely. When Aquazzura started out, Instagram was just starting out and it was a great tool for smaller brands. Osorio attributes a lot to their early adoption of social media marketing. The way people communicated changed with social media, life is immediate and Aquazzura managed to understand and capitalize on that. Another advantage in the early 2010s was that according to Osorio, the big luxury brands were not as interested in footwear as they are today. The market was more dominated by the shoe designers – the likes of Manolo Blahnik, or Christian Louboutin etc.[20]
The Aura collection with Swarovski
It is very likely that their personal network helped – if there was no capital at all to send shoes to celebrities, how did the celebrities discover the brand? Maybe they called in favours in their personal network. Today, Aquazzura shoes can be seen on Julianne Moore, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Nicole Kidman, Gigi Hadid and many others. The brand has a particularly close relationship with Poppy Delevigne. Osorio met her in Paris and they immediately clicked. He says she is a woman who inspires him –she mixes things, she is “boho” but cool, English and has a very special aura. Their collection was inspired by a piece of vintage earrings that Delevigne had worn in St. Topez with a star and a moon. Osorio and her wanted to create something mystical, Delevigne got married in Marrakech and this also influenced the magical and bohemian design.[21]
Collaboration with Poppy Delevigne
Footnotes
[1] Istituto Marangoni Miami 2025, Prestige Online 2025, The Nod Magazine 2025, Vogue HK 2025, W Magazine 2025.
[2] Prestige Online 2025, W Magazine 2025.
[3] The Nod Magazine 2025.
[4] ibid.
[5] The Nod Magazine 2025, Vogue Hong Kong 2025.
[6] Vogue Hong Kong 2025.
[7] Vogue Hong Kong 2025.
[8] Moody Roza 2025, The Nod Magazine 2025.
[9] Louloumagazine YouTube Channel 2025, Prestige Online 2025.
[10] Louloumagazine YouTube Channel 2025.
[11] Louloumagazine YouTube Channel 2025, Prestige Online 2025.
[12] Harper’s Bazaar 2025.
[13-15] ibid.
[16] Footwear News 2025.
[17] ibid.
[18] Prestige Online 2025.
[19] Footwear News 2025, Italian Business Register 2025, Prestige Online 2025.
[20] Footwear News 2025, Louloumagazine YouTube Channel 2025.
[21] Footwear News 2025, Louloumagazine YouTube Channel 2025.
Sources
Footwear News, As Aquazzura Turns 10, An Inside Look at Edgardo Osorio’s Winning Formula + How the Designer is Building a Lifestyle Brand, by Katie Abel, published on 12 October 2022, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Harper’s Bazaar, “I’m making conversation starters”: Aquazzura founder Edgardo Osorio on the power of accessories, by Clara Strunck, published on 9 March 2023, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Italian Business Register, Online Database, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Istituto Marangoni Miami, Edgardo Osorio. Founder & Creative Director at Aquazzura, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Louloumagazine YouTube Channel, An exclusive interview with Edgardo Osorio, published in 2017, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Moody Roza, Interview with Edgardo Osorio, published on 21 November 2016, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Prestige Online, The Sweet Life of Edgardo Osorio, Founder of Aquazzura, by Madelaine Clark, published on 21 June 2024, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
The Nod Magazine, The fabulous life of Edgardo Osorio, by Priyanka Khanna, published on 21 November 2024, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Vogue Hong Kong, Life & Style Of Aquazzura Founder Edgardo Osorio, by Olivia Buckham, 26 August 2020, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
W Magazine, Edgardo Osorio and Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo: Sole Mates, by Alexandra Marshall, published 2 March 2016, last accessed on 5 March 2025.
Source Title Image
Aquazzura Official Pinterest Account
Disclaimer
This article is based on the personal, views, experiences and research of the author, no fees were received by the organisations and people mentioned above. All information as of the date of publishing/updating.
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