Nina Ricci's actual name was Maria Nielli and she was Italian. She moved to France with her family and married the jewelry designer Luigi Ricci. Her son Robert persuaded her to set up her own Paris fashion house in 1932. From the beginning, jewelry was an important part of the range. In 1970 the founder Nina died and her son continued alone. In the 80s, Nina Ricci's jewelry merged with the Canadian manufacturer D'Orlan. This collaboration produced high quality jewelry that is still very popular today.