French fashion designer of Italian descent, born Maria Adeland Nieli, she became known to the world as Nina Ricci. 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. At the House she will work for over twenty years and even become a business partner. But Rafen House went bankrupt by the early 1930s and ceased to exist. Nina Ricci 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. Initially, the Nina Ricci Fashion House dealt exclusively with wedding dresses, and until now, wedding dresses from Nina Ricci are known all over the world.
Nina Ricci died in November 1970. Then her son Robert headed the company and worked there until his death in 1988. After him the management passed into the hands of her son-in-law – Gille Fuche.