The Estée Lauder Companies announces Kathleen Mitchell as Vice President and General Manager of new globally Led, London-based Hair Care Hub.
The Estée Lauder Companies today announced the appointment of Kathleen Mitchell as Vice President and General Manager, Hair Care Hub – West, leading the company’s newly formed global Hair Care Hub for UK and Ireland, Europe, the Middle East, Turkey and India.
Based in London, the new hub will act as a regional centre of excellence for The Estée Lauder Companies’ Hair Care portfolio, bringing together dedicated leadership, commercial focus and market expertise to support continued growth across the region.
Kathleen will report directly to Shane Wolf, Global Brand President, Aveda and Hair Care Brands, and will sit on both the Global Hair Care Leadership Team and the UK&I Executive Leadership Team. She will be responsible for advancing our ambitions for the Hair Care category across the region, overseeing a central team at the hub and partnering closely with global leadership to strengthen our portfolio and accelerate momentum. She will focus on building the leadership, capabilities, and localisation required to drive sustainable growth and deliver on our ambitions.
“Kathleen’s appointment reflects our strengthened commitment to Hair Care and our investment in the leadership, capabilities and regional focus required to accelerate growth,” said Shane Wolf, Global Brand President, Aveda and Hair Care Brands, The Estée Lauder Companies. “Her deep experience across professional beauty, retail and omnichannel environments makes her ideally placed to lead the new Hair Care Hub from London and build momentum across the portfolio.”
Kathleen joins The Estée Lauder Companies with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning beauty, retail and consumer brands across the UK, Europe and the U.S. She brings deep expertise in professional hair care, having spent more than 14 years in leadership roles in the beauty industry, where she has led brand and commercial initiatives across multiple markets, launched and scaled brands in new geographies, and driven innovation to unlock new growth opportunities. She helped introduce brands into new geographies and developed innovative approaches to customer engagement, including digital and B2B capabilities.
Most recently, Kathleen served as Commercial Director at John Lewis, where she led category strategy across Fashion, Beauty, Home and Technology. She also brings direct-to-consumer and international market development experience from senior leadership roles at Stella & Dot, where she scaled the business across European markets before assuming global responsibilities.
The creation of the London-based Hair Care Hub reinforces the UK’s role as an important centre for beauty, retail, professional influence and international talent.