Ground Swell

Edgardo Osorio—the brain behind Aquazzura—has swept women of the world off their feet with his subtly sexy shoes, but his own soles are firmly planted on the floors of a historic palazzo in Florence.

- Whitney Robinson

For the lucky among us, summer wedding season means celebrating with friends and loved ones over endless days in exotic places with beautiful weather. For Edgardo Osorio, however, it’s more like running a marathon. “The summer I started Aquazzura I was invited to 12 weddings and went to 10,” the cult shoe designer known for his frothy confections tells me by phone from Sicily, where he is attending his second consecutive weekend wedding, this one for a noble bride for whom he made a custom 1940s-inspired blush satin platform sandal. (Apparently there was a lot of grass, so the style proved practical.) “I was the most fun wedding guest you’ve ever seen,” he says.

That self-assuredness (and the numerous invites) speaks to Osorio’s natural charm; his company is sought by countesses, princesses, and the fashion glitterati, including former Vogue Arabia editor Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz and such notables as Petra Palumbo, Sabine Getty, Jemima Jones, Eugenie Niarchos, and Anouska Beckwith. The ladies are drawn to his Colombian good looks and preternatural tan, his sense of humor, talent, and youth. Think baby Valentino or Giancarlo Giammetti. Despite having co-founded his shoe brand only six years ago, Osorio already has three Aquazzura flagship boutiques: one in Florence, where he lives and works out of his headquarters and apartment in the Palazzo Corsini; one on New York’s Madison Avenue; and one in London’s Mayfair district. He also has 300 other retail outlets around the globe—yet he is only 32. In other words, a once-in-a-generation fashion savant.