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Beauty Industry
It's a perfect blue-skied Sydney morning, and there's quite a commotion going on outside the new Madame Korner salon and headquarters in Pyrmont. People have gathered, and staff have spilled out onto the street to get a ringside view a Vogue magazine photographic session with their beloved boss, Judit Korner, and her "right hand", daughter Jessica. Mother and daughter are supernaturally at ease in front of the camera and their adoring audience.
"They're so close to each other," one staffer whispers to the journalist. "There's such wonderful camaraderie between them." Another whispers, "Mrs Korner is so gracious and generous." Then adds, "We're so delighted to now see the daughters in the business." Jessica affectionately fusses over her mother and grabs her own camera to take a happy snap - she's not used to her mother wearing this much makeup. Not that Judit normally needs to - her beautiful glowing skin is a credit to her products and treatments.
Following in their parents' footsteps and entering the family business, which celebrates its centenary this year, has been a natural progression for daughters Jessica and Rebecca. Along with their other sister, Olivia, the three girls grew up in a world of luxurious creams and beauty treatments. Rebecca remembers that as teenagers it was girlie sleep-overs galore, complete with salon-standard facials, manicures and pedicures.
After studying psychology in Europe, Jessica, who describes herself as "the calm, level-headed one", has come home to assist her mother in the running of the business, while Rebecca, who Jessica describes as "the comet", left home at 18 to work and study in Paris, and now calls London home. Apart from establishing herself as a London ‘It’ girl (she's been touted as "the darling of the fashion and cosmetics circuits in the UK, and on the continent" by US Elle due to her stand-out style), Rebecca has, fittingly, just launched Korner Skincare, a divinely decadent range of regenerative products, at beauty emporium Space.NK in London.
"Madame Korner was originally started in Transylvania in 1904 by my husband George's mother and great-aunt," explains Judit, tracing the history of this third- generation Australian beauty empire.
"They were these really forward-thinking women. George's mother Johanna Korner's strictness about hygiene, orderliness and discipline when working in a salon are still standards we uphold today.
Decades ago, in the company's Budapest beauty clinic, a young George used his skill as a chemist to formulate creams, lotions and balms. When Madame Korner came to Australia in the early 50’s, recalls Judit, "George Korner was a very hard taskmaster. I remember as a young student going for an interview with him, and I just thought he was the most gorgeous creature. He was divine. I did the training and then was asked to become involved in working at Madame Korner." A romance developed and the two were later married.
"Beauty treatments used to be for the idle rich," continues Judit, as she recollects the glamorous Madame Korner salon during its 50s heyday. "People who had plenty of money with plenty of time and nothing to do used to beautify themselves. Rada Penfold-Russell used to come in with her huge crocodile bag and her big diamond rings and her pearls that were like boiled lollies. I remember her once leaving them in a cubicle, and running down the corridor crying, ‘My beads! I've left my beads!’
"With George's wisdom and my youth and energy we expanded the business, opening a salon at the Hilton Hotel, which was over 30 years ago now. At the time it was opened, it was on a par with others in Paris, New York, London. There wasn't a better-equipped salon anywhere. It was so exciting."
Judit describes her beloved husband as "a pasha with a harem of women around him. With his salons, colleges, a wife and three daughters, he was constantly surrounded by women. When the girls were at school swimming training, George would go to them with robes, hair dryers and a thermos of hot cocoa. He really knew how to anticipate your needs, and I think this is the secret behind the success of Madame Korner.
"It was on one of her regular trips home that Rebecca spoke to her father about her career," remembers Judit. "He suggested she expand the products. He died soon after, and she went on to contact his friends in the industry all over the world. She and I have worked endlessly over the last two years."
"I wouldn't have been able to do it without Mum," says Rebecca, equally supportive of her mother's input into the new range. "My father had a chemistry background, and Mummy is really hands-on -touchy-feely and very soothing. Both of those qualities have been pivotal to what I'm doing now. It's not every day that you have an old beauty house creating something very dynamic and new. Having seen so many adverse effects to sun exposure, my dream was to launch a skincare system that would regenerate, moisturise, lift, firm, and protect the skin at once. We wanted to work with the latest technologies, merging them with traditional skincare therapies, to create an efficient range for women on the go.
"I know every element that has gone into these products. I'm not a chemist, but I work very closely with some of the best labs in the world and realise they're the most important parts of our product." As well as protective minerals to shield skin from UVA and UVB rays, vitamins A, C and E, and essential oils, the products contain the Korner signature ingredient, K6. "It's an Australian theme we have used," says
Rebecca. "We have such an incredible ecosystem that relies on in-built defence mechanisms to flourish in very harsh conditions. K6 is a blend of extracts from six plants we selected which exist in the Australian rainforest and desert."
Rebecca can't be made to choose her favourite product, but she does enthuse about the gel-based Be Tender Toning Lotion. "It can be used in many different ways, and it's loaded with active ingredients. It's great for running over your face when you're at the beach and want to freshen up. It's filled with regenerative, moisturising, protective, toning and purifying agents, which is quite a lot of elements, really." She describes the textures as "exquisite". "We've worked so hard on them. We're not using very heavy creams. You can use wonderful active ingredients that moisturise and don't leave the skin feeling sticky."
And as Rebecca can attest, appearance is everything. "The packaging is very versatile. There are very good pharmacy-type products in France with high percentages of active ingredients, but they're just in the yuckiest packaging. Why would you want to put them in your bathroom? I know it sounds naff, but beauty products should be beautiful." And then there's the product names. Some in her line-up: Look Famous Purifying Mask, Feel Legendary Night Cream. "Well, hello," says Rebecca, "isn't that how every woman wants to feel?"
Seeing the poster-size picture of her adored husband, George, and his mother Johanna in their Budapest salon in the 30s displayed in Space, NK, London, at the recent launch of Korner Skincare. was an emotional moment for Judit. "He would have been so proud," she says, tears welling in her eyes as daughter Jessica cautions her to stop before she ruins her makeup. Any regrets in a career that's been dedicated to beauty? Judit looks up with a cheeky smile. "Maybe I should have had more children for the business."
The APAA congratulates Mrs Judit Korner and her family for the celebration of their 100th year of beauty history. We wish them every success and prosperity as the new generation of Korners are continuing the family tradition and taking the world of beauty to a new level.
©APAA 2004