Nina Ricci was founded in 1932 in Paris by Maria Nielli, nina Ricci, an Italian-born fashion designer, adopted the name Nina Ricci when she began her career. Alongside her son Robert Ricci, at the beginning of the 20th century, she set up a workshop dedicated to a vision of fashion centred on fine craftsmanship, precise pattern-making and classic elegance. From its earliest years, the house made a name for itself with creations designed to enhance the feminine silhouette, favouring draping, supple lines and a measured approach to ornament.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Nina Ricci established itself as a distinctive Parisian fashion house, appreciated for its delicate, understated style. Robert Ricci's role became essential in structuring the house, particularly in devising its artistic strategies and expanding its activities, while Nina Ricci directed the creation and supervised the execution of the designs in the atelier. The house forged a reputation based on the quality of its craftsmanship, the precision of its lines and its discreet elegance.
Visit 1946, robert Ricci extended the business to include perfumery and oversaw the creation of the perfume L'Air du Temps, which was launched in 1948. This fragrance, quickly associated with the house, became one of the most emblematic of post-war French perfumery. The bottle, whose shape was inspired by the notion of lightness and peace, helped to establish the brand's visual identity in this field. From this period onwards, the Nina Ricci universe expanded, combining fashion and the art of perfume.
During the second half of the 20th century, the company moved in different artistic directions. Several designers followed one another and renew the codes without breaking with the initial heritage. Nina Ricci's aesthetic continues to revolve around themes of femininity, graceful movement, fluid fabrics and controlled refinement. The collections favour airy silhouettes, calculated volumes and light materials.
The house's identity is based on a close relationship between traditional know-how and contemporary sensibility. The Parisian atelier retains an essential role in defining the lines, ensuring the continuity of the tailoring and flou techniques that have made Nina Ricci's reputation. The fashion shows showcase a style in which the softness of colours, the interplay of transparencies and measured sophistication remain recurring elements.
Today, Nina Ricci still occupies a unique place in Parisian couture. It embodies a heritage of classic elegance, material research and attention to detail. Its activities in fashion and perfume bear witness to a continuity between textile creation, olfactory identity and atelier tradition, consolidating a history that began in Paris in the 1930s and is still active today.
