Obituaries : Couturier Robert Ricci, 83

Robert Ricci, who was a young designer and his mother a model when in 1932 they began what became the world-famous Nina Ricci fashion house, has died, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

The leading Paris couturier and perfume maker was 83.

Ricci, president of Couture et Parfums Nina Ricci and honorary president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, an association of professional couturiers, died Monday night in his Paris home, the spokesman added.

Born in Paris, the son of a jeweler, Ricci became interested in marketing and graphic art.

He founded the fashion house Nina Ricci at age 27, and as president oversaw both the business and creative aspects of the enterprise. His mother, who died in 1970 at the age of 87, provided artistic inspiration.

The pre-war success of the company was rapid. In 1932, Nina Ricci had 22 employees. By 1939, there were 450.

“I remain loyal to a certain idea of the woman,” he once said, “an ideal of seduction and real intelligence.”

In 1946, after the war, he created the first Nina Ricci perfume, Coeur-Joie, followed by L’Air du Temps in 1948, which became a classic.

“I create perfumes that provoke emotion,” he said. “Not those that hit you like a fist in the face.”

Ricci also went international after the war and began diversifying into other areas, such as accessories, glasses and jewelry.

Nina Ricci has operations in 130 countries. In 1987, the company had consolidated revenues of $156 million. Perfumes make up 75% of the company’s sales, and 70% of the perfume division’s sales come from L’Air du Temps.