Leena Nair: The Trailblazing Indian Woman Leading Chanel

In the 1990s, the night shift at Hindustan Unilever’s factories was run entirely by men. Then a young 23-year-old management trainee clocked in after 9pm to break that rule in a small town of India ‘How will I be a successful production manager if I don’t work the night shift, where a third of my people work?’, she argued with her manager. At a time when girls in rural India were asked to return home before dark she fought to become the first woman to work HUL’s night shift because, being the first woman in a room full of men was nothing new to her. At Walchand College in Sangli, she had been one of just 18 girls among nearly 3,000 students studying engineering. Back in her hometown of Kolhapur, she had also been among the first girls to sit for the board exams. Meanwhile at HUL, in the 1990s, it wasn’t just the night shift rota that was challenging. The factories she entered were not exactly designed with women workers in mind. There was often no ladies’ toilet on site because no one had thought about building one. So, getting a women’s toilet built became one of her first tasks whenever she moved to a new factory. It happened so often that her colleagues began calling them “Leena’s Loos.” That woman is Leena Nair. Three decades on, she walks the corridors of Chanel’s Rue Cambon headquarters in Paris, leading the house founded by Gabrielle Chanel, a woman who tore up the rulebook on what women were allowed to wear, do and become. As Chanel’s Global Chief Executive Officer, Nair is the first woman of colour to lead the storied French Maison. “One of my principles has always been ‘lift as you climb’,” Nair told Financial Express Digital. “What drives me is making things better for those that come after me. To give everyone a different journey. That is what gives me a deep sense of purpose,” she says. Leena Nair was born on June 11, 1969, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The city that’s better known for its famous handmade leather chappals but far away from luxury, vanity and access to opportunities. Nair was part of the first batch of girls from Holy Cross Convent High School to appear for the Class X board examinations. It was the only girls’ school in Kolhapur at the time. After school, she had to travel further for junior college. With no suitable option nearby, she rode her bicycle 12 kilometres each way. Engineering was the next big step. She joined Walchand College of Engineering in Sangli to study electronics and telecommunications where being one of so few women in a course labelled for men was not easy. Years later, Nair describes those experiences as an important part of her life. She was constantly outnumbered and often had to prove that she belonged in places that had not been designed with women like her in mind. After Walchand, she joined XLRI – Xavier School of Management in Jamshedpur. There, she changed direction from engineering to human resources and graduated in 1992 as a gold medallist. But getting to Jamshedpur was not as simple as getting admission. The institute was a 48-hour train journey from home, and for her family, sending an unmarried daughter that far away felt like sending her to another world. Her father eventually agreed, but with one condition: she could go only if she promised to marry a man of his choice before she turned 23. Nair agreed, thinking she had at least two years to change his mind. Her father, however, did not forget the promise. On her 23rd birthday, while she was working as a management trainee at Unilever, he called to tell her that he had found someone he wanted her to meet. She agreed to the meeting more out of duty than expectation. They sat down for coffee, spoke for about half an hour, and she said yes. That man was Kumar Nair, and the two have now been married for more than three decades. Nair joined Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in 1992, first as a summer intern and later as a management trainee. It did not take her long to break new ground. As part of her training, she had to visit local shops and sell tea directly to them. She spent months travelling on delivery trucks across Delhi and Haryana, pitching and distributing tea brands to shopkeepers. That experience gave her a close look at how business worked on the ground and helped her break traditional corporate barriers. Nair later became HUL’s first woman factory floor manager and its youngest-ever Chief Human Resources Officer. Her career at Unilever then continued to grow steadily over the next three decades. In 2007, she became the first woman to join Unilever’s South Asia Leadership Team. Five years later, in 2012, she moved to Unilever’s headquarters in London. She became Senior Vice President of Leadership and Organisation Development and Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The job meant working across around 190 countries and with nearly 150,000 employees. In 2016, Unilever appointed her Chief Human Resources Officer and made her a member of its Executive Committee. At HUL, she spent 30 years and increased the share of female managers from 38% to 50%. Unilever was named the Forbes Best Employers for Women 2020, under her leadership. “It’s not always easy. It means challenging the norms; challenging the way things are done; and inspiring others, bringing them along on their own journey of becoming who they want to be,” she says. In late 2021, board of Chanel recruited Nair. The role was unexpected for someone with a human resources background rather than in fashion or luxury. He wanted her to become Chanel’s Global Chief Executive Officer. Nair took charge in January 2022. She became the first woman and the first Indian-origin executive to lead the 115-year-old French luxury house. Her appointment drew attention as she stepped in from outside the fashion industry. Yet, her expertise in people, culture, and organisational change became invaluable in leading a company where success is rooted in craftsmanship, creativity, and meaningful connections with customers. Her appointment drew attention as she stepped in from outside the fashion industry. Yet, her expertise in people, culture, and organisational change became invaluable in leading a company where success is rooted in craftsmanship, creativity, and meaningful connections with customers. Under Nair, Chanel has continued to expand its boutiques, invest in skilled craftspeople and its Métiers d’art suppliers, and put more focus on sustainability and philanthropy, all while guarding the brand’s fiercely private, family-owned character. For Nair, “lift as you climb” is more than just a phrase. The idea has shaped her journey from the factory floor in India to the CEO’s office at Chanel, where she believes it means having the courage to challenge old ways of doing things and helping others move forward with you. Under Nair over 60% of management positions are held by women. She argues that positions the company to show the rest of the world what business can look like when women are in charge. “It’s not always easy. It means challenging the norms; challenging the way things are done; and inspiring others, bringing them along on their own journey of becoming who they want to be,” Nair says. Nair also sees a strong connection between her own approach and the spirit of Chanel’s founder, Gabrielle Chanel. “The spirit of our founder Gabrielle Chanel continues to inspire us today. She was audacious. She embraced the avant-garde, creating a new freedom of movement for women. She broke corsets, rethinking new fabrics. She encouraged women to be whoever they wanted to become — at a time when they didn’t even have the right to vote.” Looking ahead, Nair wants Chanel to remain an important source of inspiration for generations to come. “100 years on from now, we want people to look back at Chanel with the same inspiration.”