Leena Nair

Leena Nair (née Menon, born 1969) is a British-Indian business executive who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Chanel.

Nair previously was the chief human resource officer of Unilever and member of the Unilever leadership executive.

Nair was responsible for the human capital of Unilever, which operates across multiple regulatory and labour environments spread over 190 countries.

Under her leadership, Unilever has been named the number one FMCG graduate employer of choice in 54 countries.

Nair is an advocate for human-centred workplaces and compassionate leadership.

Nair was born on June 11, 1969, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra in a Hindu family.

She studied at Holy Cross Convent High School Kohlapur, and The New College Kolhapur.

After completing her bachelor's degree in electronics and telecommunication (E&TC) Engineering at Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli (Maharashtra), she graduated from XLRI – Xavier School of Management as a gold medallist (1990-1992).

Apart from working in Jamshedpur, she also worked at three different factories in Kolkata, Ambattur, Tamil Nadu and Taloja, Maharashtra.

Nair first joined Unilever as a summer intern and then became a management trainee of Hindustan Unilever in 1992.

Between 1992 and 2007, she took various roles in factories, sales and corporate headquarters in Hindustan Unilever.

In 2007, she became Executive Director HR of Hindustan Unilever Limited.

After twenty years at Unilever, Nair took a position at global headquarters in London.

In 2016, Nair became Unilever's "first female, first Asian, youngest ever" chief human-resources officer.

Recruited to Chanel by Alain Wertheimer, Nair was appointed chief executive officer of Chanel in December 2021 and she started assuming the role in January 2022.

In her first year she visited over 100 company retail locations as well as manufacturing sites and regional offices, and familiarized herself with key fashion leaders, including Chanel's creative director, Virginie Viard.

Nair's initiatives have included several launches as Chanel invests more heavily in retail.

A major new boutique in Tokyo showcases a focus on standalone stores selling watches and fine jewelry and in 2022 the company introduced an eco-focused cosmetic, beauty and fragrance line, N°1 de Chanel.

Chanel has also expanded its private salons designated for top clients.

Nair counts Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo and Nigel Higgins, the chairman of Barclays bank, among her mentors.

Nair is the daughter of K. Karthikeyan, and the cousin of industrialists Vijay Menon and Sachin Menon, who hails from Kerala state.

She is married to Kumar Nair, a financial services entrepreneur.

They have two sons.