In 1883 in Turin, Italy Maria Nielli was born. In 1895 when
Maria was 12, her family moved to France. When she was 13, she
apprenticed to a dressmaker. At the age of 18 Maria had become
the head of the salon and at the age of 22 she was their chief
designer. In 1904 she married a jeweler named Luigi Ricci. In
1905 she gave birth to their son Robert. In 1908 Nina joined the
house of Raffin as a designer where she stayed for 20 years.
At age 50, in 1932, Madame Ricci opened her own house with her
son Robert. It was the House of Ricci. Robert ran the business
and Madame Ricci created the garments. During the 1930′s the
business grew very quickly. Beginning as a one room operation it
grew to consume 11 floors in 3 buildings.
Nina Ricci created elegant, sophisticated garments in a classic
style. She was well known for her high quality garments becoming
very popular with older society women. She was highly talented
at getting the most out of every print. Both her evening and day
dresses were designed to draw attention to the female figure.
In 1963 Crahay left Ricci and was replaced by Gerard Pipart, who
had worked with Balmain, Fath and Jean Patou. In the traditional
Ricci style, he designed beautiful lace dresses with appliquéd
fabrics.
At the age of 87 Nina Ricci died in 1970. Pipart continued
designing for the house of Ricc. Robert, Nina’s son was not only
an excellent business person, he was an expert perfumer. He has
transformed the house into a size Nina would never imagined
possible.
At age 83 in 1988, Robert Ricci died. In 1998 Mariano Puig, of
the Catalan family purchased the house of Nina Ricci in 1998.
They also owns the house of Paco Rabanne.
Nathalie Gervais presented her last collection in the fall of
2001. In 2002 American designer James Aguiar became chief
designer, designing for two seasons
During the Parish Fashion Week October 2003 Lars Nilsson a
Swedish designer showed his first Nina Ricci collection for the
following spring. He again presented the Ricci collection in
Paris during Fashion Week in March 2004.
Lars said that he wanted to add some substance to a the younger
woman’s wardrobe. His collection was mostly flimsy dresses,
stylish sweaters and skits with in fresh in yellow, blue and
orange colors. He was distinguished by his fresh Swedish
outerware. Lars is very quickly transforming the old couture
house into a young woman’s world, enticing a new younger
clientele. Sleek jackets, cropped sleeves, tiered skirts, and
dainty party dresses have all been added. In March 2005 Lars
Nillson once again showed the collection for the house of Nina
Ricci at the Paris Fashion Week.
Soft and feminine dresses as light as lingerie mixed with fur
jackets for the cold. There was also an addition of renaissance
sleeves, long tweed jackets, and sporty jackets . However the
collection still mainly consisted of soft piece – fragile blouse
with lace, feminine evening gowns, and strapless satin evening
dresses. Beautiful flower prints symbolic of the Nina Ricci
house were seen ranging from the tree of life to autumn leaves
revealing of his Swedish background. The 2005 spring collection
reads like a revamped modern fairy tale! Nina Ricci would be
proud!