Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Dec 6: Simone Tata (née Dunoyer), the Swiss-born entrepreneur who shaped India’s beauty and fashion landscape by building Lakme into a household name and pioneering modern retail with Westside, passed away in Mumbai on Friday. She was 95.

Arriving in India through marriage into the Tata family, Simone transformed a fledgling cosmetics venture — born out of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s request to curb the dependency on imported beauty products — into the country’s most iconic makeup brand. Lakme, named after the French opera inspired by the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, became a symbol of confidence and modernity for generations of Indian women.

Having grown up in Geneva, Simone often credited her interest in beauty to early lessons in groo

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