Nina Ricci

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In 1932, 50-year-old Italian-born French designer Maria Ricci founded the house of Nina Ricci with her son Robert. Mom handled the designs—romantic gowns draped ever so prettily—while her son looked after the finances and the fragrances (Robert deserves credit for L'Air du Temps, the house's signature scent). Designers came and went in the decades following Ricci's death in 1970, but the first designer of any real note to take charge was Lars Nilsson in 2003. Nilsson found himself at the helm of an indistinct brand—Nina Ricci lacked the identity other great French houses from that era seemed to have in spades—and his attempt to find a firm footing for the label were mixed. However, he succeeded in doubling sales in three years, leaving it in better shape than when he'd found it. Nilsson resigned in 2006; his successor, Olivier Theyskens, came straight from just-shuttered Rochas and has since taken the label in his own direction, repositioning Nina Ricci as the go-to house for standout gowns with an edge.

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Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

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March 5, 2009 12:00AM

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ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Olivier Theyskens

Olivier Theyskens

With his dreamy mien—and, as Sarah Jessica Parker once put it, "such great hair"—Olivier Theyskens is a bona fide fashion-world darling. The highly acclaimed demi-couture looks he concocted for Rochas won him devotees, and now, with a younger, sweetly gritty girl in mind at Nina Ricci, Theyskens has only upped his popularity with the style set. more >


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