Chanel was founded in Paris in 1910, as a small business of millinery. It has since grown to be one the most recognisable brands in fashion.
Named after couturière Coco Chanel, the company is owned by Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, the grandsons of Chanel’s early business partner Pierre, and remains a tightly controlled family business.
But now the duo have handed over the day-to-day operations to a rare outsider, London-based businesswoman Leena Nair, who will take over as global CEO after stepping down as Chief Human Resources Officer at Unilever. She was the first woman, first Asian and youngest ever person to hold the role.
Leena, a 52-year-old Indian businesswoman from India, has been recognized as an industry landmark. She is also the latest milestone in Nair’s extraordinary career. Nair was an engineering graduate and worked her way up to Unilever’s top ranks after she started in Unilever’s factories.
After leaving Unilever’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Leena Naair will assume the role of global CEO at Chanel.
Fashion forward: Gigi Hadid, center, and models walking on the Chanel catwalk, March 2020
Leena was born in a small town in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and is the daughter of late industrialist Ram Menon and attended Holy Cross Convent High School.
She later became a student of The New College Kolhapur before earning a degree in electronic engineering at Walchand College of Engineering in Sangli – where she found she had a ‘flair for management’.
“One of my best bits of advice was from my college professor before I started my career. He said to me, “You’re going make a lousy engineer.” You have an aptitude for managing people. She wrote that she enjoys being around people on Instagram.
After deciding against becoming an engineer, Leena began studying for a masters at Jamshedpur, where she completed her MBA in Human Resources Management at the Xavier School of Management.
She graduated in 1992 and began her career at Unilever in the management training program. In this role, she was the first female to work in India factories for the company.
When Leena joined program, the majority of the workforce was male – but the businesswoman says her time studying a male-dominated degree meant she was well-equipped to deal with the gender divide.
Leena Nair (52), a British-born businesswoman who was previously employed by Unilever, was named the new chief executive of Chanel luxury fashion house.
‘It was 3,000 boys and 18 girls in engineering college and the four years there toughened me up, made me thick skinned and I learnt how to claw my way through a largely male dominated space’, she told the Khaleej Times.
When she began working at Hindustan Unilever more than two decades ago, the factories didn’t even have women’s toilets and after ensuring some were built for her – they were jokingly dubbed ‘Leena’s Loos’.
“I have learned many things about factory production and shop floor ecosystems, resilience, as well as the value of manufacturing. She told Time magazine that it has made her who she is.
A year after graduating the trainee program, Leena became the factory personnel manager of the Lipton factory in Kolkata, where she spent three years.
Leena then became Employee Relations Manager of the company, headquartered in Mumbai and continued to rise up the ranks, becoming the general HR manager in ten years.
In 2016, by which time the businesswoman had spent over twenty years climbing the career ladder at the company, she was promoted to Chief Human Resources Officer of Unilever in London.
Her name was first female, first Asian and youngest ever CHRO of the company and had overall responsibility for the 160,000 workforce operating over 190 countries.
Leena was the first female, first Asian and youngest ever CHRO of the company and had overall responsibility for the 160,000 workforce operating over 190 countries
Leena was CHRO of the company in January. The consumer giant stated it will not be doing business with companies that don’t pay their workers a living wage from 2030.
The Ben & Jerry’s and Marmite manufacturer was one of the first large-scale companies to make such a commitment due to worsening inequality due to the pandemic.
Leena described social inequalities as a “systemic problem” and stated that the company faces its greatest challenges in the supply chain, in Vietnam, Brazil, India, and the Philippines.
As well as her work for Unilever, Leena worked as a non-executive board member of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for two years from 2018.
Chanel inspires me so much. This company believes in freedom, creativity and cultivating human potential. It also believes that it can make a difference by making a positive contribution to the world.
Leena (with husband Kumar) was appointed Chanel’s chief executives last week. Rare outsider takes the reins of this tightly-controlled family fashion house.
She wrote, via social media, “I feel humbled and honored to have been appointed Global Chief Executive Officer at Chanel. An iconic and admired brand.”
“It is inspiring what Chanel stands up for. Chanel is a brand that values freedom, creativity and cultivating the potential of people. It also believes in making a difference in the world.
The French fashion house have previously spoke of their desire to diversify their brand, hiring Fiona Pargeter as head of diversity and inclusion in 2019 as ‘a sign of Chanel’s commitment’ to inclusivity.
Meanwhile, Bernstein luxury goods analyst Luca Solca said Chanel was following a trend of attracting top executives from the consumer packaged goods industry.
‘Unilever and P&G stand tall as management reservoirs for the relatively young luxury goods industry,’ he said, pointing to Antonio Belloni, general manager of LVMH and a former president of Procter & Gamble in Europe, and Estee Lauder head Fabrizio Freda, also a P&G veteran.
Chanel announced that Leena would become a member of the team at the end January, and will be based out London. Chanel stated that Leena would join at the end of January and be based in London.