Chanel taps Unilever executive as new CEO

█ Chanel says Unilever executive Leena Nair will become global chief executive officer at the end of January. Alain Wertheimer, who co-owns Chanel with his brother Gerard, will become global executive chairman.

“This new partnership at the helm of the company, appointed by The Board of Chanel Limited (UK), will further ensure long-term success as a private company, believing in the freedom of creation, cultivating human potential and acting to have a positive impact in the world,” Chanel said in a press release on Tuesday.

Nair, an executive with an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur in India, per LinkedIn, has spent 30 years at the fast moving consumer goods company (FMCG), Unilever. She joined as a management trainee in 1992 and climbed the ladder to chief human resources officer, overseeing 150,000 employees. She is also an executive committee member. At Chanel, she will manage over 27,000 people globally.

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It is not uncommon for executives from consumer goods companies to join the ranks of luxury executives. “Chanel follows a trend of attracting top FMCG talent to manage luxury goods. Unilever and P&G stand tall as management reservoirs for the relatively young luxury goods industry. The cases of Antonio Belloni at LVMH and Fabrizio Freda at Estée Lauder are a benchmark in this respect,” says Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. (Dior chairman and CEO Pietro Beccari’s background includes Benckiser in Italy and at Henkel working on haircare; while Laurent Boillot, Hennessy president and CEO, started his career at Unilever.

Chanel, which generated sales of $10.1 billion in 2020, doesn’t disclose the revenue by category. However, the brand’s quilted leather handbags and ready-to-wear sales of tweed jackets; couture; and its jewellery and watches business, are buoyed by more accessibly priced categories including eyewear; fashion accessories; fragrances including Chanel No 5; makeup; and skincare.

Nair won’t be the first female top executive at Chanel. Maureen Chiquet was CEO for almost a decade, from 2007 until 2016. Prior to Chiquet’s tenure, Françoise Montenay became president of Chanel SA in 1998. Currently, Bruno Pavlovsky is president of Chanel Fashion and Chanel SA; Anne Kirby, is chief executive officer of the company's fragrance and beauty division; and Frederic Grangie is president of watches and jewellery.

Chanel’s revenue fell 18 percent last year, according to the company, although it outpaced the broader industry. (Luxury goods sales fell 22 per cent in 2020, according to Bain.) Privately held Chanel began publishing annual results in 2018, the first time in over 100 years, to prove it has the finances to fend off takeover approaches amid rumours it was a target. It has continued to do so annually.

Chanel was among the few luxury brands increasing prices in 2021, a strategy that has paid off. Pavlovsky told Vogue Business earlier this month that 2021 is looking good. “We have a double digit growth in every single country with the local customers.”