Indian-origin Leena Nair has been named the Global Chief Executive of French luxury group Chanel. The 52-year-old will be joining the luxury brand in January 2022, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Also Read: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg lays off 900 employees on zoom call

Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel along with his brother Gerard Wertheimer and had temporarily taken on the CEO role, would move to the role of global executive chairman.

Leena Nair is an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur and had joined HUL, Unilever’s Indian subsidiary in 1992. Her career at the company spanned 30 years, most recently as the chief of human resources and a member of Unilever’s executive committee.

Also Read: New Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s climb to the top

She also served as the Non-Executive Board Member of BT plc, Member of the Trust Board for Leverhulme Trust, Steering Committee member of the The Future of Education and Gender and Work, WEF, Leadership Council Member of International Centre for Research on Women.

In 2021, she named the Role Model of Year by The Great British Businesswoman’s Awards. Her net worth is approximately $1.5 Million.  

“I am humbled and honoured to be appointed the Global Chief Executive Officer of CHANEL, an iconic and admired company,” Nair tweeted on Tuesday. 

“I am grateful for my long career at Unilever, a place that has been my home for 30 years. It has given me so many opportunities to learn, grow and contribute to a truly purpose-driven organisation. I will always be a proud advocate of Unilever and its ambition to make sustainable living commonplace,” Nair added.