Georgette Klinger

Georgette Klinger ( Eckstein; February 28, 1915 – January 9, 2004) was a Moravian-born American businesswoman and cosmetologist who founded skin care brand Georgette Klinger Inc. in New York City in 1941. Born into a wealthy family in Brno, Moravia, she became interested in beauty care after developing an acne rash from applying cosmetic products she won at a beauty contest. Klinger opened her first salon in 1938 before closing it a year later so she and her family could flee abroad when the Nazi Party invaded Czechoslovakia.

She formed her business from a bank loan of $15,000 and expanded it to operating nine salons by the time of its sale to a financial and investment firm in 1998. Klinger devised the first specialized treatment programs for teenagers in 1967 before expanding it to men five years later. She co-authored a book with Barbara Rowes in 1979, and was invited to join The Committee of 200 in 1982. Klinger's salons have been cited by experts as a precursor to the multi-billion spa industry, and she brought European-style female skin care to the United States.

Biography Klinger was born in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) on February 28, 1915. Klinger had three brothers, was raised in a wealthy family, who owned a summer home in Brno to entertain foreign visitors. The cosmetic products Klinger won irritated her skin, and gave her a breakout that caused a persistent acne rash. Klinger's mother took her to a professor of dermatology in Vienna, and the two women ventured to other cities for a period of two years for treatment, which was initially unsuccessful. Klinger and her family fled to London by providing authorities with exit visas. In London, she established a costume jewelry business, which she later relinquished to a friend of hers; she worked secretly to liberate Czechoslovakia during World War II.

The bank loan allowed her to open a shop called Georgette Klinger Inc. at 509 Madison Avenue, Manhattan; provided equal treatment to her customers regardless of their social class, She trademarked the company name in 1977, and ran four salons in the United States by 1979. That same year, she and Barbara Rowes co-authored Georgette Klinger’s Skincare to talk about her skin care methodology. she sold it to Madison, Wisconsin-based financial and investment firm Pyle Group in 1998, Her Eastern European accent caused her to pronounce Ws as Vs, such as "vomen's skin needs vauhter", was fluent in seven languages. and admired opera. She was known to scrutinize her employees, and was a perfectionist. Maureen O'Sullivan of Palm Beach Daily News noted Klinger did not "sugar coat her assessments" and provided staff with support and assistance. She mandated salon facialists to sport white uniforms and call customers "Miss" to create calmness. Her public image was one of her being rarely seen without sporting a hat, and preferred to wear uncomfortable shoes.

Called the "Dean of Skin Care", her salons became a precursor of the multi-billion dollar spa industry, brought European-style female skin care to the United States, and according to O'Sullivan, introduced scientific skin care to the country. Douglas Martin of The New York Times wrote Klinger's approach of treating the skin "as a tender, living organ, not a surface in need of decoration" had "revolutionized cosmetic skin care."