Ayurvedic beauty brand Fable & Mane has a new chief executive officer.

The hair care brand, launched by siblings Akash and Nikita Mehta in 2020, has appointed Cécile Budge to the top post. She succeeds Akash in the position, who will remain involved in Fable & Mane as a cofounder alongside Nikita.

“I am excited and privileged to join the team and be part of the journey with Akash and Nikita,” Budge said. “Fable & Mane is a beautiful brand with great depth….My focus with the team will be to build on the brand’s unique positioning and relevance to reach new audiences globally and accelerate growth.”

Most recently, Budge served as chief operating officer of Fable & Mane’s holding company Nirvana Brands, which is owned by Dilesh Mehta, father of Akash and Nikita Mehta. Dilesh also owns the French fashion house Patou — which LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton sold back to him this summer — and Designer Parfums.

“My strength and my joy are in protecting the heartbeat of Fable & Mane: The brand, the community, the creativity and the story behind why we exist,” Akash Mehta said. “Cécile brings a brilliant complement to that. She has the leadership and operational experience to take what my sister and I have built and help scale it into its next chapter, while allowing us to stay deeply connected to the vision and soul of the brand.”

Prior to joining Nirvana Brands this year, Budge was a senior vice president and general manager at Morphe’s former parent company, Forma Brands, and before that served as CEO at Omorovicza Cosmetics. She has also held senior leadership roles at Shiseido and P&G Beauty.

Budge’s appointment comes in tandem with Fable & Mane’s appointment of Rose Pilato, previously chief marketing officer at The Maker, as its first CMO as the eight-figure brand continues to scale.

From a retail point of view, Fable & Mane sells in roughly 1,250 doors across 33 markets, including Sephora in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and U.K., and other retailers including Selfridges, Cult Beauty, Nykaa, Douglas and more.

The brand is best known for its bestselling $38 HoliRoots Hair Oil, which features ingredients such as ashwagandha, dashmool and castor oil to strengthen strands and promote hair growth. Other offerings include hydrating and volumizing shampoo and conditioner duos; a Deep Moisture Repair Hair Mask; a SahaScalp purifying scrub, and a recent trio of hair and body fragrance mists inspired by different Indian cities and states.

As part of this transition, Akash Mehta will double down on his work at The Fable Fund, a nonprofit he launched in 2025 that works to support wildlife and conservation efforts.

“Leading Fable & Mane as CEO has been an incredible honor, but part of being a founder is knowing when the business needs something different from you,” he said. “For me, this feels like exactly the right moment, both for Fable & Mane and for the next chapter of my own journey.”