An Exceptional Legacy

By Louise May

Born in Ithaca on 27 July 1924, Elly Lukas was considered one of Australia's most beautiful women, and she was the first Greek migrant to walk the fashion runways across Australia and overseas in the 1950's, modelling exclusive luxury fashion and haute couture creations.

With a mixture of beauty, grace and a strong personality, Lukas made history as an inspirational Greek female figure who contributed tremendously to the lives of many Australian and Greek women, especially within the Melbourne community.

Sponsored by her older sister who had already migrated, Elly embarked on a ship to Australia in 1946 but political upheaval in Egypt stalled the vessel in Port Said for three months.

During that time, the passengers were accommodated at various hotels in Cairo while waiting for another passage. While at the Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo, her natural beauty and grace were noticed by a handsome young man, Alexander Zotos, the hotel’s general manager, who went on to become Elly’s husband. The couple had two children, Elise and Alex. During this period, in which opportunities for migrant women to find work were limited, Elly’s elegance and natural beauty prevailed in her favour.

She commenced her career in the fashion industry by showing collections of hats, accessories, and haute couture garments. She featured regularly in the works of leading photographers Athol Shmith, Henry Talbot, and Helmut Newton, and featured on the cover of Woman’s Day and fashion magazines on a regular basis.

While overseas, as part of a Migrant to Australia tour Lukas modelled for Christian Dior in Paris but declined an offer to travel around the world as a Dior model due to her family commitments.

In 1954, Elly and her husband set up the Elly Lukas School of Elegance in Collins Street, Melbourne. Her natural ability to communicate with people of all ages enabled her to promote the importance of confidence, poise, and manners to hundreds of women who walked through the doors of her institution. Olivia Newton-John was among the personalities known to have enrolled in the school that served generations of women, who were taught that the key to true beauty comes down to one significant quality: confidence.

Elly’s son Alex is now the director of the accredited beauty college that offers beauty therapy, massage, make-up, and spa therapy courses.

The elly lukas Beauty Therapy College has helped shape the beauty and spa industry in Australia over the past 68 years. They are recognised as leaders and innovators in the beauty, spa, make-up, and massage therapy industries. As one of the largest providers of Beauty & Spa Therapy education in Australia, the award-winning college provides exceptional standards of industry relevant training combined with a uniquely supportive learning environment.

As an independent College, elly lukas get to work with all of the leading employers throughout Australia and indeed the world. That means their students have the broadest possible career opportunities and can choose from a wider variety of career pathways – such as Salon, Clinic, Spa, Luxury Resort, Cruise Ship, Laser, Makeup, Advanced Skin, Dermal Therapy and Business Manager or Owner with a diverse range of employers – not just one.

There’s nothing boring about an elly lukas education. They take your learning out of the classroom with exclusive access to the top levels of the industry in incredible locations. It’s their belief that incredible skills and knowledge are not enough…it’s how and where you implement those skills that makes the difference.

Their goal is to not only provide you with exceptional training, but to also empower you with the ability and confidence to fulfil whatever career outcomes you seek. It’s for these reasons that you’ll see such a variety in their graduates’ success stories.

Occupying an entire city building in Flinders Lane – there’s nothing quite like the facilities at elly lukas. Each of their training rooms are custom designed for the specific modalities, enabling their students to learn at a leading-edge industry level.

To be confident and job ready – you’ll need to learn how to use the latest equipment in a variety of job settings. Whether you’re working for MAC or Mecca as a make-up artist, you’ll learn the latest make-up skills in their 2 fully equipped Makeup Studios featuring industry-leading shadowless lighting.

With advanced skincare and dermal therapy becoming such an important part of the industry, the skincare studios feature the latest advanced skin care equipment. You’ll experience everything from traditional skin & body care treatments, such as high frequency and galvanic, to diamond and crystal microdermabrasion and microcurrent for non-surgical face lifts.

If Spa is your passion, you’ll love the innovative spa studio featuring the latest and greatest spa equipment like the time capsule, vichy table, thermal & steam infusion capsules and hydrotherapy baths.

In fact, they are one of the few Beauty colleges around that has such an impressive array of spa equipment so that their students learn to become confident in all aspects of spa practical treatment delivery.

As the saying goes “knowledge is power” and to provide the underpinning understanding of the science behind beauty – you’ll learn in their fully equipped science faculty featuring a lecture theatre and laboratory.

It’s here that so many of their students have discovered their interest for a deeper level of understanding that has ignited their passion for advanced skin, inspiring further career development in Dermal Therapies.

With over 68 years of training the leaders of the Beauty, Spa, Wellness, Make-up and Dermal Therapy industries – you’ll find their graduates in salons, clinics, spas, resorts, retreats, retail stores and franchises throughout Australia. Many progress to senior roles in leadership and management or become entrepreneurs to open their own businesses.

According to the Australian Government Job Outlook research – the Beauty, Spa, Wellness & Dermal Therapy industries will experience very strong future employment growth. They predict that there will be 50,700 beauty jobs by 2024. The Beauty, Spa, Wellness & Dermal industry is experiencing rapid growth as more and more consumers discover the variety of new treatments now available.

Whilst some students obtain employment prior to commencing their training, the majority of our students obtain employment during their training with assistance from the college’s job placement service, with almost all of the remaining students obtaining employment or continuing onto further study immediately after graduating.

Whilst the college does not guarantee any employment outcomes our graduates are highly sought after by the industry because of their job ready skills and thorough training obtained at the college.

Elly lukas education is independent, which means they don’t train their students to just work at a single laser clinic chain or spa franchise – they empower their students with the skills and knowledge to choose whatever career path that inspires them. They approach teaching and learning by providing you with relevant underpinning knowledge combined with the confidence to apply your newly obtained skills in the workplace. Their training spa and salon facility allows you to practice your skills in a simulated salon/spa environment whilst you learn.

The college’s new Melbourne city campus is a purpose-built facility featuring modern equipment and state-of the-art facilities including specialist day spa, wet tables, Vichy shower, aromatherapy and steam areas designed to give students valuable knowledge and experience with up-to-date salon/spa treatments as they become available in the industry.

Alex Zotos