Born in Colombia and shaped by a global upbringing between Miami and London, Edgardo Osorio has redefined modern luxury footwear through a balance of elegance, innovation, and ease. As Founder and Creative Director of Aquazzura, launched in 2011, he brings a distinctly contemporary vision to Italian craftsmanship—creating designs that are as comfortable as they are refined. Inspired by travel, the sea, and a spirit of modern Dolce Vita, his work embodies beauty with purpose.
Why Venice Continues to Inspire Edgardo Osorio
Courtesy of Vino Vero. Photo by Andrea Pugiotto.
WHITEWALL: Venice is a city built on beauty, craft, and the passage of time, values that resonate deeply with what Aquazzura stands for. How does the city inspire you personally and creatively?
EDGARDO OSORIO: Venice inspires me in a very emotional way. Every time I arrive, I feel that I am entering a world of its own. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but it never feels still or frozen. It is full of movement, reflections, history, and life. There is beauty in every detail, in the water, in the architecture, in the texture of the walls, and in the light that changes constantly throughout the day.
Creatively, I am always inspired by places near the water, and Venice gives me that in the most poetic way. It is a city of layers. The colours are softened by the lagoon, the materials have depth and memory, and everything feels incredibly tactile. I think of velvet, Murano glass, marble, worn stone, old wood, and gilded details. All of this speaks to me because I have always believed that beauty should have soul and intelligence behind it.
There is also something about Venetian craftsmanship that I find deeply moving. It never feels decorative just for the sake of decoration. It is refined, sensual, and made with extraordinary skill. That is very close to how I think about design. At Aquazzura, we care so much about craftsmanship, about emotion, about creating pieces that are beautiful, but also made with real purpose. Venice is a constant reminder that true beauty comes from patience, culture, and the human hand.
“True beauty comes from patience, culture, and the human hand.”
-Edgardo Osorio
WW: The Biennale transforms Venice into a global stage for ideas. What draws you back to it, and what are you most looking forward to this year?
EO: What always draws me back is that Venice has this extraordinary ability to make contemporary creativity feel even more powerful. During the Biennale, the whole city becomes a conversation between past and present, and I find that incredibly inspiring. You can move from a Renaissance palazzo to a contemporary installation in a matter of minutes, and somehow it all feels natural. Very few places in the world can create that kind of dialogue so effortlessly.
I also love the energy it brings to the city. Venice already has such a strong cultural identity, but during this moment it becomes even more international, more curious, more alive. There is a real sense of exchange, of ideas, of people coming together through art, design, and beauty.
What I look forward to most is that feeling of discovery. I love seeing how artists respond to the city, how historic spaces are reinterpreted, and how new perspectives are introduced into such a timeless setting. For me, that tension is what makes Venice so exciting. It is never only about preserving beauty. It is also about allowing beauty to evolve.
Venice Beyond the Biennale Crowds
Fondazione Dries Van Noten, installation view of “The Only True Protest Is Beauty,” 2026. Photo by Matteo de Mayda. Courtesy of Fondazione Dries Van Noten.
WW: Venice has a rare ability to hold contradictions, the ancient and the contemporary, the intimate and the spectacular. Where do you feel most at home within that tension?
I think I feel most at home exactly within that meeting point between historic beauty and contemporary creativity. That is one of the things I love most about Venice. It never asks you to choose between the two. They coexist so naturally.
I can feel completely at peace in the quiet, intimate rhythm of the city, and then be deeply inspired by a contemporary exhibition inside a palazzo filled with history. I find places like Palazzo Manfrin, with Anish Kapoor Foundation, and Palazzo Pisani Moretta, home to the Dries Van Noten Foundation, especially exciting because they show how naturally Venice allows the past and the present to speak to one another. I also love Ca’ Pesaro for the same reason. These places remind me that beauty does not belong only to history. It can still feel fresh, alive, and surprising.
What moves me most is that Venice can be deeply intimate and incredibly theatrical at the same time. There is always this wonderful tension between quiet refinement and visual drama. I have always loved elegance with emotion, refinement with character, and Venice expresses that beautifully.
“I love to sit there in the morning with a coffee and simply watch the rhythm of the city.”
-Edgardo Osorio
WW: Are there particular places in Venice, hidden or iconic, that you return to and that consistently move you?
EO: There are places in Venice I return to again and again because they always make me feel something.
Campo Santo Stefano is one of them. I love to sit there in the morning with a coffee and simply watch the rhythm of the city. It feels elegant, calm, and very authentic. I also always love the Zattere early in the day, when Venice is quiet and filled with soft light.
Among the more iconic places, Piazza San Marco in the evening is always moving to me, especially once the city becomes quieter. It takes on a completely different atmosphere, more mysterious and more personal. I also love Caffè Florian because it carries so much history, and the sense of place there is extraordinary.
For hidden or lesser-known places, I find San Zaccaria, especially the crypt, incredibly special. The view from the bell tower on San Giorgio is also one of the most beautiful in the city. I love Fortuny + Chahan for its enchanting mix of rare mid-century furniture and locally made pieces, and I find the Fondazione Vincenzo de Cotiis fascinating because it reveals a more unexpected side of Venetian design.
Then there are the places connected to craftsmanship that I always return to, like Bevilacqua for its velvets, or the glass ateliers like Giberto Venezia and Antica Murano that keep the soul of Venice alive through making.
The Quiet Beauty of Venice
Courtesy of Inti Ligabue. Photo by Joan Porcel.
WW: In your view, what makes Venice irreplaceable as a cultural capital, and how do you hope it continues to evolve?
EO: What makes Venice irreplaceable is that it is one of the purest expressions of beauty, culture, and craftsmanship in the world. It is a city where art, architecture, design, hospitality, and daily life are all connected.
I also think Venice is irreplaceable because it teaches us that beauty and craftsmanship matter, that details matter, that culture can shape the way we live every day. For me, that is incredibly important.
What gives me hope today is that Venice is not only preserving its past. It is still evolving. There are new foundations, new creative conversations, and new intersections between art, fashion, design, and hospitality. I hope it continues in that way, with intelligence and sensitivity, protecting its soul while remaining open to new ideas. Venice is timeless, but it should never become static. Its magic comes from the fact that it is alive.
