Simone Tata, the Swiss-born businesswoman who helped build Lakmé and Trent into two of India’s best-known consumer brands, has died at the age of 95, marking the end of a defining chapter in the Tata Group’s retail and beauty story.
She passed away on Friday morning at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital after a brief illness, according to a Tata Group statement.
Last respects will be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Name Church in Colaba, followed by a memorial mass, the statement added.
Born Simone Naval Dunoyer in Geneva in 1930, she studied at Geneva University before first visiting India as a tourist in 1953.
Two years later she married industrialist Naval H Tata and settled in Mumbai, becoming the mother of Noel Tata and stepmother of future Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.
Her professional journey with the Tata Group began in the early 1960s, when she joined the board of Lakmé, then a small subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills set up to manufacture cosmetics in India.
By 1961 she had become managing director and in 1982 she was appointed chairperson, overseeing Lakmé’s evolution into one of India’s first modern consumer brands.
Her success in turning a niche cosmetics venture into a national household name earned her the moniker “cosmetic czarina of India”.
In the mid-1990s, spotting a larger opportunity in organised retail, Simone Tata led the sale of Lakmé’s cosmetics business to Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever).
The proceeds were used to set up Trent Ltd, which launched the Westside chain of fashion and lifestyle stores.
Under her stewardship as non-executive chairperson until 2006, Trent became a cornerstone of the Tata Group’s retail ambitions and helped shape India’s nascent modern shopping culture.
Beyond corporate boardrooms, she was deeply involved in philanthropy. Simone Tata chaired the Sir Ratan Tata Institute and served as a trustee of Children of the World India as well as the India Foundation for the Arts, backing initiatives in social welfare and culture.
Colleagues and family members often highlighted her calm demeanour, meticulous work ethic and willingness to mentor younger managers — traits that made her a quiet but influential force within the wider Tata ecosystem.
Her final years were marked by health challenges. In August 2025 she was airlifted from Dubai to Mumbai and admitted to Breach Candy Hospital, where she was treated for a lung infection and complications linked to Parkinson’s disease, the same illness that had afflicted her stepson Ratan Tata.
Though she recovered enough to be discharged, her condition remained fragile.
Simone Tata is survived by her son, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, daughter-in-law Aloo Mistry and grandchildren Neville, Maya and Leah.
In its tribute, the Tata Group said she would be remembered both for building Lakmé into India’s leading cosmetics brand and for laying the foundations of fashion retail through Westside — contributions that turned a visiting Swiss tourist into one of the most consequential women in Indian business.
