Nina Ricci was founded in 1932 in Paris by Maria Nielli, italian-born couturier, who adopted the name Nina Ricci from the very start of her career. Alongside her son Robert Ricci, at the beginning of the 20th century, she established a workshop dedicated to a vision of fashion centered on fine craftsmanship, precise pattern-making and classic elegance. From its earliest years, the house distinguished itself with creations designed to enhance the feminine silhouette, favoring draping, supple lines and a measured approach to ornament.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Nina Ricci established itself as a distinctive Parisian fashion house, appreciated for its delicate, understated style. Robert Ricci plays an essential role in structuring the house, devising its artistic strategies and expanding its activities, while Nina Ricci directs design and supervises the execution of models 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 expands into perfumery, overseeing the creation of the fragrance L'Air du Temps, which saw the light of day in 1948. This fragrance, quickly associated with the house, became one of the most emblematic of post-war French perfumery. The bottle's shape, inspired by the notion of lightness and peace, helped 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.
In the second half of the 20th century, the company moved in different artistic directions. A succession of designers renew codes without breaking with the original heritage. Nina Ricci's aesthetic continues to revolve around themes of femininity, graceful movement, fluid fabrics and controlled refinement. The collections emphasize 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. Nina Ricci's runway shows showcase a fashion style in which soft colors, the interplay of transparencies and measured sophistication are recurrent elements.
Today, Nina Ricci still occupies a singular 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.
