The story of Nina Ricci reflects the changes in the fashion world over the years, and her fragrances have a firm place in perfume history. The designer was born Maria Adélaide Nielli in Turin on January 14, 1883, and died in Paris on November 29, 1970. Her impressive career as an Italian-French couturière began with her immigration to France in 1895 at the age of 12. In Paris, she completed an apprenticeship as a tailor and married the jeweler Luigi Ricci in 1904, with whom she had a son named Robert. Maria, affectionately known as Nina by her friends, shaped the fashion world for over two decades as a designer at the Raffin fashion house before founding her own company, Nina Ricci Sàrl, in 1932. In the Rue des Capucines in Paris, not far from the Place Vendôme, she established her own fashion label and created luxurious haute couture clothing with a romantic and distinctly feminine style.

Her high-priced fashions, which were preferably draped on the model, enjoyed great popularity in wealthy French circles, even in the years following the Great Depression. By the end of the 1930s, Nina Ricci employed around 500 people, and the business continued even during the war years. After World War II, her son, Robert Ricci, took over management and, starting in 1946, successfully entered the US ready-to-wear market. The company achieved international fame through participation in fashion shows by Parisian couturiers, including Balenciaga, at the Louvre Museum. At the end of the 1950s, Nina Ricci retired from active business and died in 1970 at the age of 87.

Robert Ricci continued to lead the company, creating the first perfume, "Coeur Joie," in 1946 and, two years later, the modern fragrance "L'Air du Temps" in collaboration with perfumer Francis Fabron. This fragrance, in bottles by Marc Lalique, became the company's most famous and best-selling perfume. Numerous other fragrances followed in the 1960s and 1970s, including "Capricci," "Mademoiselle Ricci," "Bigarade," and many more.

The Nina Ricci brand experienced a golden age under the leadership of Robert Ricci and his son. In 1959, Robert Ricci appointed Belgian Jules-Francois Crahay as chief designer, who propelled the house to international success. The first ready-to-wear line, "Mademoiselle Ricci," was launched for the US market in 1962 and renamed "Nina Ricci" in 1966.

After Robert Ricci's death in 1988, Puig Beauty & Fashion Group took over the company. The haute couture division was closed, and the company focused on perfumes and ready-to-wear. Designers such as Nathalie Gervais, Massimo Giussani, Peter Copping, Guillaume Henry, and others shaped the brand in the following years. Ownership changed several times, and Puig Beauty & Fashion Group eventually became the sole owner of Nina Ricci. The brand has successfully launched many perfumes and fashion fragrances over the years. The women's fashion is presented twice a year at Paris Fashion Week.

The Nina Ricci brand continues to encourage women to blossom and feel their best. Since its founding, Nina Ricci has maintained a consistent, contemporary craftsmanship that empowers women. This unique artistic sensibility combines simplicity and purity with a wealth of creativity. Independent, powerful, and uplifted by true beauty, Nina Ricci motivates women to reveal the charm of their emotions and fulfill their deepest desires. As Robert Ricci once said, "I work for people whose sensibility matches my own."

Since its inception, the house, founded in Paris by Nina herself and her son, has maintained the freedom to invite talented individuals to jointly shape "l'air du temps." Possibly bold, daring, and explosive, Nina Ricci appointed Harris Reed as the first genderfluid creative director of a traditional Parisian fashion house in 2022. The 26-year-old British-American designer is particularly known for his gender-neutral creations and is expected to bring new perspectives to the house's tradition and lifelong craftsmanship. His first collection for the fashion and perfumery house, owned by Puig, was presented in early 2023.