Another feather has been added to the Indian cap as Leena Nair now takes over as the global CEO of French luxury group Chanel.
With this appointment, Nair joins the ascending number of Indians who have taken on tough responsibilities at the top of major corporations in recent years.
Nair’s professional career has spanned almost 30 years. After receiving a gold medal from the Xavier School of Management, one of India’s best B-schools, she joined Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) as a management trainee in 1992.
Presenting her views on the fashion giant, Leena Nair tweeted,
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.
Believing in what Unilever stands for, Nair mentioned, “I will always be a proud advocate of Unilever and its ambition to make sustainable living commonplace. Overwhelmed by the love and support my appointment as CHANEL CEO has got. Thank you! Please trust that I am reading every comment, even if I don’t reply to everyone individually.”
Nair joined the firm as general manager HR of ‘home and personal care India’ in 2004, and was promoted to general manager HR in 2006. She became HUL’s executive director of HR a year later, and in 2013, she was promoted to Unilever’s senior vice president, HR, where she was responsible for leadership and organisational development, as well as the global head of diversity.
Nair joined the Unilever Leadership Executive in London in 2016 and was promoted to Chief Human Resources Officer as the company’s youngest, first woman, and first Asian.