Ordinary People

Deciem—and particularly its top brand, The Ordinary—was never a cookie-cutter Lauder business. Now, Nicola Kilner, the C.E.O. credited with holding it all together, is departing, and the company is feeling the growing pains.

I’m told that Kilner, who is in her mid-30s, had been contemplating a change for some time. Photo: Courtesy of Deciem

Rachel Strugatz

November 21, 2024

With six weeks to go before taking the reins of The Estée Lauder Companies, incoming C.E.O. Stéphane de La Faverie flew to Canada the other day with another high-ranking executive, Nicola Kilner, to deliver some deflating news. Kilner, the co-founder and C.E.O. of Deciem, would be stepping back from the Toronto-helmed beauty brand that she founded 11 years ago—five months after ELC finally completed its gradual, years-long acquisition of her company for $1.7 billion.