Nair remarked in a statement that she was humbled and honoured to be named Chanel’s global CEO. Nair described the company as iconic and the one that she admired, adding that it believes in creative freedom, human potential, and acting to have a positive impact on the world.

Nair will step down from Unilever’s Leadership Executive in order to take up her new role, which will be based in London, United Kingdom. She also praised Unilever for providing her the opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute to a truly purpose-driven organisation in her statement. For the past 30 years, Nair has worked for the Unilever company. Nair concluded her statement by saying,

Let’s find out more about Leena Nair, the global Chanel boss who received worldwide recognition. 

The 52-year-old has the distinction of being Unilever’s first female, Asian, and youngest chief human resources officer (CHRO). 

Nair graduated from Jamshedpur’s Xavier School of Management with a gold medal. She began her career with Hindustan Unilever as a management trainee in 1992. Nair was promoted to Lipton’s factory personnel manager the following year. 

In 1996, she was promoted to Employee Relations Manager at HUL, and in 2000, she was promoted to HR Manager at Hindustan Unilever India. The company promoted Nair to general manager HR of home and personal care India in 2004, then to general manager HR department in 2006.

Leena Nair was hired as Unilever’s senior vice president of HR in 2013, and she also became the company’s global head of diversity in the same year. In 2016, she became a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive team, located in London.

In an interview, Nair claimed that she took that up so that she could spend more time with her husband Kumar. Nair practices meditation, yoga and is an avid runner too. The couple are parents to two sons. 

We take a bow!