Nina Ricci biography and brand history

The house that Ricci built ... This definition for the Ricci House can be found in some of the articles on fashion history, and indeed, the creation and development of this fashion house was carried out by the son of Nina Ricci - Robert.

Nina Ricci is considered a French fashion designer of Italian descent. Marie Adeland Nieli, today known to the world as Nina Ricci, was born in 1883 in Turin, Italy. Her father was shoemakerwhen Maria was five years old, her family moved initially to Florence, and then to France, to Paris. However, in the family, Maria was often called Nina. And her family herself lived quite poorly, and when Nina was 13 years old, she was sent to study tailoring. Along the way, she worked with her mother in a haberdashery store.

Many girls from poor families in sewing workshops remained laborers for many years. But not Nina. By the age of 18 she had become a senior milliner, and at the age of 20 she had her own apprentices and tailors, the clothes were now sewn exclusively according to her sketches.

In 1904 she married Luigi Ricci, a gardener and flower seller. They had a son - Robert. But the marriage did not last long. Soon Luigi dies and Nina Ricci is left alone with her little son in her arms. She will marry again only in 1916 for Gaston Morel. After the death of her first husband, Nina Ricci spent days and nights behind sketches and threads with a needle. In 1908, she was accepted into the Rafen fashion house as a designer. In the House of Rafen, Nina Ricci will work for over twenty years and even become a business partner. But House Rafen by the early 1930s of the XX century went bankrupt and was closed. Nina Ricci, by that time already could not deny herself the means and was going to retire, because she was already 50 years old.

But in 1932, at the insistence of her son Robert, she opens her own Fashion House - Nina Ricci. Dresses from Nina Ricci were certainly elegant and feminine. They had a certain sophistication and romance. Originally, Nina Ricci Fashion House was exclusively engaged in wedding dresses, and until now, wedding dresses from Nina Ricci are known all over the world.

Nina Ricci died when she was already well over eighty, in November 1970. Then the company was headed by her son Robert until his death in 1988, and after him the management passed into the hands of her son-in-law - Gilles Fouche (Fuchs).

At the beginning of the 21st century, the designers of the Ricci House were Olivier Theyskens and then Peter Copping.

Today, the Nina Ricci brand is known not so much for its clothing or footwear as for its perfumery. The most popular Nina Ricci fragrances are Love by Nina, Nina, Premier Jour, Love in Paris, Ricci Ricci, L'air du Temps, Nina L'Elixir.

“Perfume is the soul of a woman,” said Robert Ricci.

L'air du Temps. Smell (smell) of time. A combination of rose aromas, jasmine and gardenias. This legendary fragrance was created by Robert Ricci in 1948. According to legend - for his beloved. The fragrance was created in collaboration with perfumer Francis Fabrin. The famous bottle with two kissing doves on the cap was made according to the sketches of Mark Lalique. The convex glass flowers on the bottle were created by the artist Christian Berard. L'air du Temps is one of the five most famous perfumes in the world to this day.

The very first perfume from the House of Ricci appeared in 1946 - Coer Joie ("Joy for the heart") - Robert Ricci dedicated them to his mother.

And today the Nina Ricci brand does not lose popularity, remaining true to its elegance, romance and delicate aromas.