French luxury group Chanel appoints Leena Nair as new CEO

Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, will move to the role of global executive chairman after Nair joins the company.

“I am humbled and honoured to be appointed the global chief executive officer of Chanel, an iconic and admired company. I am so inspired by what Chanel stands for. It is a company that believes in the freedom of creation, in cultivating human potential and in acting to have a positive impact in the world,” Nair said in a LinkedIn post.

“I am grateful for my long career at Unilever, a place that has been my home for 30 years. It has given me so many opportunities to learn, grow and contribute to a truly purpose-driven organisation. I will always be a proud advocate of Unilever and its ambition to make sustainable living commonplace,” Nair added.

Nair was the first female, first Asian, and youngest ever CHRO of Unilever and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive. Listed among Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women’s List 2021, Nair hails from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. After studying electronics engineering at Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli, Maharashtra, she went to XLRI, Jamshedpur (1990-92), where she was a Gold Medallist. She had joined Hindustan Unilever in 1992 as a management trainee and since then had moved up in her career donning several roles.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)