Edgardo Osorio and Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo: Sole Mates
When it comes to the good life, Aquazzura founders Edgardo Osorio and Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo walk the walk.
The Line of Beauty
“What’s missing today in fashion is simply beautiful things,” says Edgardo Osorio, a cofounder, with Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo, of the shoe line Aquazzura. “It’s as if to be interesting you had to be depressed and messy, but that’s complete nonsense.” Indeed, there is no shortage of beautiful things in their 2,000-square-foot pied-à-terre in the 15th-century Palazzo Corsini in Florence, which overlooks the Arno River. Here one finds an upbeat jumble of art by Douglas Gordon and Vanessa Beecroft, Baroque Viennese portraiture, Ralph Lauren and Christian Lacroix wallpaper, a bit of taxidermy, and a lot of antique Portuguese silver. Osorio, 30, and D’Almeida Figueiredo, 44, are there only a week or two per month due to an ambitious international-travel schedule, but when they are, the door is open to friends such as the jewelry designer Sabine Getty, the fashion entrepreneur Alejandra De Rojas, and the model and It girl Poppy Delevingne, with whom Osorio created a capsule collection. On this day, Getty is lounging on the velvet sofa in the living room, an Hermès Bleus d’Ailleurs cup of tea perched on the zebra-skin table in front of her. “I just love this place,” she gushes.
A Step Ahead
Osorio, who was born in Cartagena, Colombia, has been working as a shoe designer since he was 19, with stints at Salvatore Ferragamo, René Caovilla, and Roberto Cavalli along the way. “When we launched Aquazzura in 2011, it was just me and Edgardo in his old apartment surrounded by shoeboxes,” says D’Almeida Figueiredo, formerly a Lisbon-based publicist for luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Gucci. Since then, they have placed Osorio’s sexy, deceptively comfortable shoes with Browns, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Net-a-Porter. In November, Osorio collaborated with Ferragamo on a 12-shoe collection. “It was the first place I worked when I got to Italy,” he says. “Partnering with them 10 years later, when I’m in such a different place in my life, was really special to me.”
Global Footprint
Osorio and D’Almeida Figueiredo are expanding the burgeoning Aquazzura empire with the same upbeat maximalism evident in their living quarters. They opened their first store, in Florence, in 2014, on the ground floor of the palazzo; a London flagship followed last fall; New York is having its debut this month; and outposts in Macau and Hong Kong are in the works. “I never met a stripe I didn’t like,” says Osorio, referring to the decor of the Florence shop, with its pops of vivid jade green, brass, and its restored frescoes dating from when a Corsini ran the Vatican as Pope Clement XII. That exuberance—tempered with practicality—clearly extends to his wildly popular stilettos and flats. “I’ve always wanted to create shoes that were positive and happy. Whenever I went to a wedding or a party, girls kept complaining about their shoes. I love to dance, and I wanted them to have shoes they could keep on all night.”
Photos: Edgardo Osorio and Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo: Sole Mates
Edgardo Osorio, at home in Florence, flanked by his friends Alejandra De Rojas and Sabine Getty, who are wearing his shoes.
Alejandra de Rojas wears Christopher Kane top and skirt; Aquazzura sandals. Sabine Getty wears Alessandra Rich romper; Aquazzura sandals.
A fresco in Ricardo D’Almeida Figueiredo’s home office
The view from Palazzo Corsini.
The palazzo overlooks the Arno River.
courtesy of AquaZzura.
A favorite painting at home: Lola Montes Schnabel’s Traveling Around the World, 2014.
A shoe from the Aquazzura collaboration with Salvatore Ferragamo.
Photograph by Tim Hout.
D’Almeida Figueiredo’s office features a couch from Gallotti & Radice, coffee tables from Flexform, and a photograph by Thomas Ruff.
The couple’s living room is decorated with Vladimir Kagan chairs and Douglas Gordon’s Self Portrait of You + Me (Bo Derek), 2006.
The sculpted archway is a 17th-century altar from a Portuguese church.
A sitting area in Osorio’s design studio.
The flagship store, in Florence.
Courtesy of Aquazzura
Sketches in the Aquazzura design studio.
A sandal from the spring 2016 collection.
Courtesy of Aquazzura
A rendering of the New York store.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
Gigi Hadid, Osorio, and Devon Windsor, in Paris, 2014. Courtesy of Getty Images.
An optical-art corner in the London store.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
Saloni Lodha, Eugenie Niarchos, Osorio, and Nicky Hilton Rothschild, at the opening of the London store, 2015.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
Emma Stone in Aquazzura heels.
Courtesy of Splash News.
Jennifer Lawrence in Aquazzura heels.
Courtesy of Getty Images.
A sketch from the fall 2014 collection.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
Osorio at the Aquazzura London opening, 2015.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
Osorio with his friend and collaborator Poppy Delevingne.
Courtesy of Aquazzura.
D’Almeida Figueiredo and Osorio, with a Venus sculpture in Palazzo Corsini. Hair By Guja at Atomo Management; Makeup by Karin Borromeo at WM-Management.
Hair By Guja at Atomo Management; Makeup by Karin Borromeo at WM-Management.