2 days ago
Who's Chanel's Indian-origin CEO honoured with UK's CBE title
French luxury fashion house Chanel's first Indian-origin CEO, Leena Nair, was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Prince William. The award, referred to as the CBE, is part of the 2025 King's New Year's Honours list, which celebrates individuals for their exceptional service or accomplishments in the award was bestowed upon her in recognition of her contributions to the retail and consumer India-born businesswoman dedicated the honour to the Chanel team, her family, and mentors.
"Honour is a word that can sometimes feel overused, but today it carries profound meaning for me as I received a CBE," she said in her statement."I am deeply grateful for the unconditional support of my family and for the wisdom and generosity of all the people at Unilever and Chanel. I share this honour with all these wonderful people who have accompanied my career journey and shaped my values," the Chanel Global CEO added."I am especially thankful to my amazing team at Chanel, to whom I dedicate this award. This inspires me to continue to lead Chanel with audacity and integrity and to strive to have a positive impact in the world," she was presented with the honour at a ceremony held at Windsor wore a violet Chanel haute couture tweed coat dress, complemented by sandals from couture shoemaker Maison Massaro, and a violet felt hat crafted by Maison Michel, both companies that are owned by the French luxury brand KOLHAPUR TO LEADING CHANELBorn in Maharashtra's Kolhapur, Nair climbed from modest beginnings to lead the prestigious French luxury her leadership, the 115-year-old family-controlled brand has bucked the luxury slowdown affecting its rivals by delivering a 16% increase in revenues in 2023, worth $20 Chanel global CEO also featured on Fortune India's Most Powerful Women list for she was the youngest Chief Human Resources Officer at Nair has served as Global CEO of Chanel since January 2022. During her tenure, the brand has boosted its support for Fondation CHANEL, one of the world's largest corporate foundations, benefiting 9 million women and girls British-Indian businesswoman is an alumnus of Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur.
