Its a perfect blue-skied Sydney morning, and there’s quite a commotion going onoutside the new Madame Korner salon and headquarters in Pymont. People have gathered, and staff have spilled out onto the street to get a ringside view of our 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 me. “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 make-up. 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 ofthe 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 Körner 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 50s, 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