The haute couture house was founded in 1932.
Nina Ricci designed gowns while her son Robert Ricci managed the business and finances. She worked with the fabrics directly on the mannequin to ensure they had shape once they were finished. Nina Ricci designs soon became known for the refined, romantic, always feminine feeling Maria adds to all of her collections. In 1941, Robert Ricci created an in-house perfume division. In 1945, with the war over, designers were casting about for a way to revive the
infatuation women had formerly had with
haute couture, while raising money for war relief. Robert Ricci had an idea which
Lucien Lelong, President of the Chambre, put into action. Over 150 mannequins from 40 Paris couturiers, including
Balenciaga and
Madame Gres, were dressed in the labels' best fashions and were placed in an exhibition held at the
Louvre, in Paris titled
Théâtre de la Mode. After a huge success in Paris it toured Europe and then the US. In 1946, Robert created his first fragrance, Coeur Joie. In 1948, Robert came up with another fragrance, L’Air du Temps, the brand's most popular fragrance, which continues to be a top seller today. Several
flight attendant uniforms were designed by the Nina Ricci brand. Nina Ricci is also a pioneer of licensing their designs before the rise of
ready-to-wear. As early as 1960, they started licensing their patterns to upscale boutiques such as
Chez Ninon in New York City and
Betty Clemo in Hong Kong for 'line-to-line' reproduction. Robert chose the new head designer in 1954, the Belgian
Jules-François Crahay. The designs of Crahay were highly praised. This proved to be a short-lived partnership as Australian women struggled to fit into the petite and very fitted designs from the Paris fashion house. Crahay left Ricci in 1963 to go to
Lanvin, and was immediately replaced by
Gérard Pipart, who had worked at
Balmain,
Fath and
Jean Patou prior to his new job. He continued to carry on the name of Ricci with beautiful and elegant dresses. After Maria Ricci's death in 1970, Crahay was appointed head of the house. Robert continued to excel in perfumery and business until his death in 1988. Nathalie Gervais had been the chief designer for the house for several years. She presented her last collection in Fall 2001. In May 2002 American designer James Aguiar took over as chief designer and designed for the House of Ricci for two seasons. In 2003,
Lars Nilsson took over the house of Ricci with rave reviews from critics. While his role would also involve providing creative input on the beauty side of the business, his primary task was the injection of a dose of excitement, youth and energy into the somewhat dormant fashion and accessories lines. He made a sudden redesign in early 2006, and then in September announced that Brussels-born designer
Olivier Theyskens of
Rochas would take over the role as head of the label. In 2009, Theyskens was replaced by designer Peter Copping, who had worked for Louis Vuitton. In 2015, after Peter Copping left the house, Guillaume Henry took the place of Creative director. During a 2013 fashion show, Ricci designs were targeted by bare-breasted
Femen protesters, who grabbed model
Hollie-May Saker. In August 2018, menswear designers Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh took over as Creative Directors. The duo left the brand in January 2022. In September 2022, London-based designer Harris Reed, best known for his gender-fluid designs, was appointed Creative Director. Reed has committed to producing a majority of styles up to at least a size 14, with select pieces going to size 18. This is a significantly larger size range than is standard for a luxury fashion brand, and has been praised as meaningful change on size inclusivity in fashion. == Creative directors ==