Luxury brand Chanel is known for many things — its fragrances, handbags displaying the company’s iconic double C logo and, most recently, its first CEO of Indian origin.
French Fashion House Appoints Leena Nair as Global CEO 2021she took over at the helm of the company last year.
At the time, she had no fashion or CEO experience, but she did have decades of leadership experience at consumer goods giant Unilever.
“If someone told me that I would have a chance to do what I did today, I wouldn’t believe them,” Nair said in an interview. this wall street journal Published Sunday.
Nair’s last job was as chief human resources officer at Unilever, the parent company of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, among many others.
The company operates in 190 countries It has a total of 400 brands. To move from this point to a luxury brand that charges premium prices and prides itself on its exclusivity, Nair needed a change of mindset.
“One is about quality, quality, quality—call it out. It’s about rarity, precious, less. It’s a whole different world,” she said.
what am i inspired by @chanel represent. It is a company that believes in creating freedom, nurturing human potential, and positively impacting the world through action.
— Leena Nair (@LeenaNairHR) December 14, 2021
rise to the top
Nair grew up in the Indian town of Kolhapur, a few hours south of Mumbai.
When Nair was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in electronics and later an MBA, her mother often worried about whether her ambitions would hinder her marriage prospects, she said. She was one of the few women at the university at the time.
“For a long time in my life I’ve heard people say that I can’t do something because I’m a girl, especially the first 15, 20, 25 years of my life,” she said. “And then you stop listening.”
Nair began his career in 1992 as a summer intern at Unilever.
She reportedly ended up as a management trainee to her LinkedIn and spent the next decade or so in various management roles in Unilever’s India operations.
Her campaign in India ended in 2012, after which she was transferred to the London headquarters of the British conglomerate.
Under her leadership, the number of female managers in the company increased from 38% to 50%, journal The report said.
She is also part of Unilever’s efforts to promote various social commitment These include paying a living wage to all workers in the supply chain by 2030.
“Every job I do is a first. First woman, first brown, first Asian, first Indian — but I don’t want to be the last,” Nair said.
Nair took over Chanel’s top job from Alain Wertheimer, grandson of founder Coco Chanel’s business partner Pierre Wertheimer. In other words, she joined the company as a rare outsider, both to the Chanel family and to the fashion world.
But now, after nearly two years as global chief executive of the world’s second-largest luxury brand, she has made her presence felt.
Nair increases the funding of the Chanel Foundation, which supports women and girls in their careers, to $100 million a year. The luxury brand is also putting sustainability and renewable energy efforts front and center for climate-conscious future shoppers. It launched a sustainability-focused beauty line, Chanel No. 12022.
Under her leadership, Chanel has also announced plans to capitalize on its position among ultra-wealthy shoppers by launching private products. Invitation Only Boutique.
In 2025, The company will Its London headquarters doubled in size, and its team moved into 86,000 square feet of office space. The company has opened 1 sq ft of office space in the city’s affluent Mayfair district as its business continues to attract high-end shoppers.
Although Nair made many changes during her short tenure at Chanel, she told the media wall street journal What drew her to the job was “never the power or anything” associated with being a CEO.
“What fascinates me is the influence and voice that companies can have,” she said.
Recovering from COVID-19 and IPO planning
The COVID-19 pandemic is rocky period For Chanel, like many other luxury brands, all retailers have been hit hard by the global shutdown.
But since then, the French fashion house has undergone a turnaround, reports say 17% increase Sales in 2022 are up 6% from the previous year.
Its operating profit exceeded $5.7 billion pre-pandemic levels back Drop more than 40% In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Last year, Chanel’s revenue was boosted by a recovery in spending in Europe, although luxury shopping in one of its key markets, China, struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels due to a long-running zero-coronavirus policy.
The company has also managed to remain resilient in the face of rising costs, with the luxury market Generally considered to have considerable inflation resistance Because its customer base is generally willing to pay higher prices.
Some Chanel products also saw price increases up to 74% In the UK since 2019, according to investment bank Jeffries.
Nair has argued in the past that price increases reflect rising labor and raw material costs, as well as currency fluctuations.
Chanel has previously been rumored to be considering an IPO as it expands its international presence, but Nair’s vision for the company is to retain private ownership.
“We will continue to be a private, independent company,” Nair insisted in an interview in April. this Financial Times.
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