Florentine designer Stefano Ricci, a Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour, founded his eponymous house in 1972 with his wife Claudia, starting out of the family home on Via dei Niccoli in Florence, a location that still operates today as the brand's bespoke tailoring atelier. The company has grown to 78 monobrand boutiques worldwide and, by 2010, had acquired Antico Setificio Fiorentino, a historic silk-weaving mill in Florence's Oltrarno district. It remains family-run, with the founder's elder son Niccolò now CEO and younger son Filippo serving as creative director.