Aquazzura Expands Florence Boutique as Categories Grow
MILAN — Aquazzura is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the expansion of its first boutique in Florence, the birthplace of the luxury brand.
The larger 2,160-square-foot store allows founder and creative director Edgardo Osorio to present the Aquazzura Casa collection. Osorio unveiled a collection of tableware in June during Milan Design Week — a development of the home project Osorio introduced in 2020, when he tapped designer Fiona Leahy as co-creative director to develop the home business.
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As a result, the Florence boutique is the biggest Aquazzura store worldwide and reflects the evolution of the brand from its core footwear business into a lifestyle label. Osorio will also introduce a men’s shoe collection, to be available next year and the designer is also eyeing eyewear, fragrances and cosmetics.
The Florence store is located in the stunning Palazzo Corsini and the 17th-century interiors are reimagined in harmony with the brand’s stylistic codes, and now feature two additional rooms.
The first is in a vibrant aqua green palette, lit up by Murano glass chandeliers. Opulent silk moiré fabric walls and a restored pharmacy cabinet with coral pink interiors are key elements of the room.
Imposing double doors, decorated with trompe l’oeil golden motifs, lead the way to the second room dedicated entirely to the tableware collections of the Casa line. The main shades here are pink and yellow.
Ceramic floor tiles characterized by geometric graphic elements complement the palazzo’s Renaissance-period original frescoes with floral decorations in shades of dark green and burgundy.
In the center stands a beautiful alabaster altar in carved wood and glass in golden tones.
This expansion was curated by Casa do Passadiço, which Osorio has chosen for other recent openings in Paris and Madrid.
Along with boutiques in Capri, Florence and New York, the brand has stand-alone stores in Milan, London, Miami, Doha, Dubai and São Paulo.
To mark the anniversary, Osorio introduced the Tequila clutch, flanking the sandal of the same name, and unveiled a full-fledged handbag collection to retailers in July that will be launched in the first quarter of next year.
Company sales are expected to total between 66 million euros and 70 million euros in 2022. Wholesale accounts for 68 percent of total sales, but Osorio is eyeing an expansion of the brand’s retail network, which comprises 15 stores. “We want this channel to represent 60 to 70 percent of the business in the next few years,” he said.
The U.S. is Aquazzura’s main market, representing between 40 and 45 percent of the total, followed by Europe and the Middle East. He is planning an expansion in Dubai and the opening of a second store in Doha, also eyeing Saudi Arabia. Osorio, who was born in Colombia, is also focusing on South America and Mexico, in particular.
