Powerful Women in the Fashion, Luxury, Beauty, & Tech Industries

For International Women’s Day, we wanted to celebrate some incredible women and their achievements in our industry. Finally, the world is seeing some changes and an increase in gender representation with many women now at the top of the ladder and leading global companies.

Top fashion houses, social platforms and incubators are taking proactive steps to help change the narrative, and at the helm are many powerful women. So in this article we have spotlighted ten impressive women that are shaking up the fashion, luxury, beauty, and tech industries.

EVA CHEN

Eva Chen is the Head of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram and a children’s book author, creating stories that use fashion as a way to learn about important feminists throughout history. Chen started her career initially wanting to be a doctor but then decided to change course, joining Elle Magazine before becoming the Beauty Editor of Teen Vogue, then moving on to be the youngest Editor-In-Chief in the history of Lucky Magazine. Ultimately, she shifted into the tech side of the industry and joined Instagram in 2015 where she developed the Fashion Partnerships department. There, she’s working with models, designers, stylists, publications, and editors to help them understand how to use Instagram better, while developing the platform to be tailored to the industry’s needs.

LAUREN SANTO DOMINGO

Lauren Santo Domingo is an American Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of the giant online fashion retailer, Moda Operandi. The innovative site allows avid shoppers to pre-order a select edit of catwalk looks into a “see-now, buy-now” experience. Santo Domingo began her career in fashion working as an assistant at American Vogue before becoming Managing Editor of the magazine. She is known as an active philanthropist, where she regularly chairs charitable events such as the Frick’s Young Fellows Ball and the committee for ‘New Yorkers for Children’ galas.

LEENA NAIR

Leena Nair is a British-Indian Business Executive and the first female Global CEO of Chanel, who was appointed in December 2021. Nair previously served as the Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever and member of the Unilever Leadership Executive. She was recognized by Queen Elizabeth II as one of the accomplished Indian Business Leaders in the United Kingdom in 2017.

MORIN OLUWOLE

Morin is the Director and Global Head of Luxury at Meta. Oluwole was born in Lagos and graduated in medicine before realising that this wasn’t her call. Oluwole is a Luxury Industry Thought Leader in digital transformation, business development and innovation at Meta, where she leads Facebook and Instagram’s global luxury division as Global Head of Luxury.

NATALIE MASSENET

Natalie Massenet is a British-American fashion entrepreneur and former journalist, who founded the world’s premier online luxury destination, Net-a-Porter. In 2009, Massenet was awarded an MBE, an order of the British Empire award, and in January 2016 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire; both awards were in recognition of her contributions to the UK fashion and retail industries. In 2018, alongside Nick Brown, she co-founded Imaginary Ventures and became Non-Executive Co-Chairman at Farfetch.

REESA LAKE

Reesa Lake is the Head of Creator Expansion and Agency Partnerships at LTK where she brings LTK’s economic opportunity to creators across new platforms, verticals, categories, and demographics. Prior to joining LTK, Lake was Partner and Executive Vice President Brand Partnerships at Digital Brand Architects. Reesa has also been named in the Influencer Top 50 by Talking Influence.

ROXANNE VARZA

Varza, an Iranian-American who grew up in Silicon Valley, formerly a journalist and startup ambassador before being personally selected by Xavier Niel, french businessman, to spearhead the development of STATION F. Roxanne is the Director of STATION F, which is the biggest startup campus in the world with more than 1000 startups, located in Paris. Varza is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the French startup ecosystem.

SIMONE OLIVER

Simone Oliver spent 13 years at the New York Times and served as Digital Director at Allure before pivoting into the tech world, working on the Global Media Partnerships team at Facebook. In September 2020, she joined Refinery29 where she currently leads projects with lifestyle publishers and magazines. There, she’s leading the brand new strategy behind R29 Style, encompassing fashion, beauty, and shopping on a global scale.

STEPHANIE PHAIR

Stephanie Phair is Chief Customer Officer at Farfetch, an independent Non-Executive Director on the board of Moncler SpA and an advisor to Felix Capital. Stephanie was previously founder and President of TheOutnet.com and was part of the Executive Team of The Net-a-Porter Group, and in 2018, Stephanie was appointed Chairman of the British Fashion Council.

DANIELLA VITALE

Vitale is the CEO of North America at Salvatore Ferragamo. Prior to that, Vitale joined Barneys New York in 2019 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2017. She was later tapped by Tiffany & Co. to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer for the brand. Vitale holds a seat on the UNICEF New York Board and on The Baker Retailing Center Industry Advisory Board at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, among other organizations.

To hear top insights from more key industry leaders, watch the on-demand sessions from our #Performance2022 virtual summit by clicking the banner below!