From a small town in Maharashtra to the helm of one of the world’s most iconic luxury brands, Leena Nair’s journey is nothing short of a fairytale. In 2022, she became the global CEO of Chanel, making history as the first woman of colour to lead a major luxury fashion house. Her transition from Unilever—where she was the youngest-ever and first female CHRO—to Chanel marked a bold shift across industries, cultures, and leadership roles.
As the global luxury market grapples with economic headwinds, Chanel has not been immune. In 2024, the French fashion house reported a 4.3 percent decline in revenues to $18.7 billion, while operating profit fell sharply by 30 percent to $4.48 billion. Against this backdrop, Nair’s leadership philosophy—rooted in empathy, purpose, and long-term thinking—has become even more relevant. In an email interaction with Forbes India, she reflects on the lessons from her FMCG roots, and how her mantra—'lift as you climb’—continues to guide her as she steers Chanel into its next century. Edited excerpts:
Q. What inspired your transition from Unilever to Chanel, and how has your experience shaped your leadership style?
The opportunity to lead Chanel was compelling. Chanel is an iconic brand, one of the most followed in the world—with a 100-year history. It’s a brand that talks to women, with an incredible founder who was the most radical innovator of her time. It was also the values of Chanel as a company that appealed to me—an independent business that thinks long-term and has creation and people at its heart.
Through the process of joining Chanel, I learnt more about the culture and its people, and the more extraordinary I knew it was. Joining Chanel was a chance to lead the House into the future and for it to continue to be a beacon of inspiration for the next one hundred years.
My leadership style has not changed. I am a purpose-driven leader and believe that you have to focus holistically across all company metrics at all times—thinking about client experience, people and having a positive impact.
Q. Coming from a consumer goods giant to a luxury fashion house, what surprised you the most about how the two industries operate? Can you share an instance where your FMCG background offered a fresh perspective to Chanel’s strategic decisions?
I’ve talked a lot before about the move being a transition across many dimensions. I moved from CHRO to CEO, from publicly-listed to privately-owned, from an Anglo-Dutch company to a French-heritage brand, and from FMCG to the luxury sector.
The most challenging transition was FMCG to luxury. FMCG is all about mental and physical availability, mass marketing, and high volumes. Luxury is about preciousness, rarity, and building true desirability, the drive for excellence, and the highest levels of craftsmanship.
When you move sectors and roles, you must be in a learning mindset. After I joined Chanel, I travelled to many different markets, points of sales and boutiques to meet, listen and hear from the teams. “Help me understand” were some of my most used words during those first few months.
Q. Looking back at your time at Unilever, what were the most transformative lessons that shaped your leadership—and how did being a woman of colour influence your journey?
Unilever was a fabulous training ground. It was a hands-on experience across all aspects of the business: Sales, supply chain, marketing, factories and manufacturing. From the beginning, I loved understanding the business from the eyes of people. I was always meeting the drivers, the workers at the factories, riding the sales trucks, moving around the different production floors. I gained a holistic understanding of how a business runs.
I have been the first in every role I’ve done—the first woman, the first Indian, the first person of colour. I realised early on that I had a privilege and an enormous responsibility to be an agent of change for others. “Lift as you climb” has long been my motto, meaning to support others to make it easier for them to follow in my footsteps.
The responsibility of being first gave me courage to fight for the right things because I knew I wasn’t just doing it for myself. I felt I could be an agent of change for others coming after me.
Early on in my career, I was doing a sales stint in a small town in South India. I was the first woman from Unilever to stay in that hotel. I realised very early on that it was not safe for women—something my male colleagues hadn’t experienced or noticed. So, I worked with the HR to make sure we had better safety checks across the country for hotels where female employees were being sent to stay.
Another example, two years into my career at Unilever there was a factory that was economically unviable that we had to shut down. That’s a tough decision to make when you’re 24. But it taught me how to make tough decisions while leading with empathy and compassion for every individual involved.
Q. How did your early experiences and upbringing shape your approach to leadership and decision-making in global organizations?
I grew up in a small town and never had a clear idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wasn’t surrounded by role models that I could see myself in. But I always knew that I wanted to have a voice in the world.
At school, I grabbed every opportunity and didn’t take anything for granted, especially the opportunity for an education. I was part of the first cohort of students at the school in our town and I always had a growth mindset. School also taught me the beginnings of leadership: What it takes to influence, to persuade, which I loved to do in the classroom and with my parents. It’s a mindset that I carry with me to this day.
One of my cousins recently told me about a story from school. When I was nine, our teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up—the other girls said they wanted to be teachers, homemakers, housewives but when it was my turn I said: “I want to be the Prime Minister of India”. Some of the other girls in the class were sniggering as it seemed an impossible idea to them, but, as a young girl, I was very determined, probably the most determined girl the town had seen.
Q. How do you balance preserving Chanel's heritage while driving innovation in the luxury fashion industry?
Innovation is the lifeblood of Chanel. Gabrielle Chanel always wanted to be part of what’s next, and we constantly look to what’s next.
In our current world, AI is inevitable and, of course, we are experimenting as you would expect from a company like Chanel to be. We do this across three areas—getting ready with the data, deeply experimenting and focusing, and scaling up the best ideas. We spend a lot of time talking to startups and Big Tech players on the development of responsible AI and the opportunities for innovation.
However, all our experimentation is within the context of our absolute commitment and dedication to human creation, and human craftsmanship, and human relationships.
When the world is talking about going fast with deployment, we continue to be guided by our philosophy of the freedom of human creation. My role is to ensure we are at the forefront of change and shaping what’s coming next, while protecting our creation and differentiation.
Q. How do you envision Chanel's role in redefining luxury for the next generation?
I want Chanel to be a beacon of inspiration and a pillar of strength with enduring values. Constantly adapting and learning have never been more important than in the world today, and thinking about the markets where you operate. In this context, I want to continue to steer the House through these defining times. At Chanel, this means looking at new sources of vitality that are shaping our sector, new expressions of creativity we are seeing across the world, making sure we have a positive impact as a company and relentlessly protecting what makes us uniquely Chanel: Our craftsmanship, our savoir-faire, client experience and our people.
Q. If you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Don’t wait for the perfect job but fall in love with the job you already have and see how you can make a difference. Do your best and differentiate yourself. And don’t shy away from thinking about what’s next. Be intentional about the skills you need to learn for what you want next and set your path. Be ready so that when the right opportunity comes you are prepared to jump in.