Simone Tata, who set up brands like Lakme and Westside, passes away at 95

Simone Tata, who used to be the Managing Director of cosmetics company Lakmé and a Non-Executive Chairperson of Trent until 2006, passed away in Mumbai on Friday morning at the age of 95, according to an official statement issued by the Tata Group.

“Ms Simone Tata, 95, passed away this morning at Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, after a brief illness. She will always be remembered for her contribution to the growth of Lakmé as India’s leading cosmetic brand and for laying the foundation for fashion retail with the Westside chain. She also guided the work of many philanthropic organisations, including the Sir Ratan Tata Institute. With her positivity and deep resolve, she overcame many challenges in her life while touching many of us deeply,” a Tata Group statement said.

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Last respects to Simone Tata will be paid on Saturday, December 6, from 9 am to 10.30 am at the Cathedral of the Holy Name Church in Colaba. “This will be followed by a memorial mass at 11 am to honour her life and legacy,” according to the Tata Group statement.

Simone Tata, who is the mother of Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and the stepmother of the late Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata, was reported to have recovered from an illness at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai in August 2025. She is survived by her son Noel Tata, his wife Aloo Mistry and grandchildren Neville Tata, Maya Tata and Leah Tata.

Simone Tata always maintained a low profile but came into the spotlight as the only Tata family member to have attended the funeral of Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted as the chairman of the Tata Group. Simone’s gesture of attending his funeral was widely noted, especially given the strained relations between the Tata family and Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry family in 2022.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1930, as Simone Dunoyer in a French-speaking Roman Catholic family, she first visited India in 1953 as a tourist, during which she met Naval H Tata, a prominent executive in the Tata Group and a key figure in the family’s industrial legacy. Their meeting sparked a courtship that led to their marriage in 1955, marking a pivotal transition for Simone from her European roots to integration into Indian society and the influential Tata family.

After her wedding, Simone Tata relocated permanently from Switzerland to Mumbai, adapting to a new cultural and familial environment that contrasted sharply with her upbringing in Geneva.

She began her professional journey with the Tata Group in 1962 when she was appointed to the board of Lakme. At the time, Lakme was a subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (TOMCO). Simone Tata is widely credited with transforming Lakme into a leading brand in the cosmetics industry.

In 1996, Tata sold Lakme to Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL). She used the proceeds to establish Trent, marking the creation of Tata’s famous Westside brand, which is operated under Trent Ltd.

Simone Tata served as the Non-Executive Chairperson of Trent until 2006 and served as chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Institute. She was a trustee of Children of the World India (CWI), a recognised charitable organisation, affiliated with a French institution. She was also a trustee of the India Foundation for the Arts, focused on strengthening capacities and infrastructure in the arts in India.