Chanel appoints Unilever veteran Leena Nair as new CEO
French luxury fashion house Chanel has named Leena Nair as its new CEO, effective from the end of January 2022.
Leena Nair, new Chanel CEO. Source: Shinykatie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
She replaces Chanel co-owner and chairman Alain Wertheimer, who occupied the CEO role after Maureen Chiquet's departure in 2016. Wertheimer will now become global executive chair of Chanel, said the company.
Nair is a consumer goods veteran, with a career at Unilever spanning 30 years, most recently as the chief of human resources and a member of Unilever’s executive committee. Nair was the first female, first Asian, youngest ever CHRO of Unilever, according to Reuters.
The 52-year old Indian national, described as a "fashion outsider", takes on the task of leading one of the world's biggest luxury goods groups.