About Nina Ricci
As with Dior and Chanel the house of Ricci was founded by an extraordinarily talented fashion designer. Nina Ricci was born in 1883 in Turin, Italy and later moved with her family to Paris where she was apprenticed to a dressmaker at the age of 13. She rapidly gained a reputation as a gifted couture designer and by 18 was head of the salon and by 22 its premier designer. She then became a partner of Maison Raffin, one of 80 fashion houses in Paris at the time, staying there for 20 years where she cemented her standing as one of the icons of haute couture. Her trademark design method was to work directly with fabric on a mannequin and she specialised in creating classically elegant clothes for an older and more sophisticated clientele. At the age of 50 she established her own house in partnership with her son Robert.