Michael Fink, whose career path veered from music to retailing, is reinventing himself as an fashion educator and intends to challenge students to be innovative in a period of industry upheaval.
In his role as dean of Savannah College of Art and Design’s new School of Fashion, Fink, a former vice president and women’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, will drive the department’s overall vision. He will oversee 25 faculty members and the curriculum for 812 fashion students at the school’s campuses in Savannah and Atlanta.
The department, previously part of the School of Design, includes fashion, accessories design, fashion marketing and management and luxury fashion management.
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Acknowledging he is a “newbie to the world of academia,” Fink doesn’t see a steep learning curve for himself.
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“I feel it’s just going to be a matter of learning the policies and procedures,” he said, adding he has no plans to be in the classroom. “But as for the fashion and retail [elements of the job], those won’t give me a second’s glitch.”
Fink, who departed Saks during the luxury retailer’s round of 1,100 job cuts in January, sees the industry transformation caused by the recession as an opportunity.
“The entire fashion industry has changed overnight,” he said. “All the old business models have been thrown upside down. The industry has been coasting along and we haven’t seen any innovation in years. We have to challenge our students.”
With that goal in mind, Fink said he plans to place heavy emphasis on technology, garment making and fresh thinking among students.
“I honestly believe that the industry will change and that it will happen with a younger point of view,” he said. “Whether it’s retail or wholesale, [both components have] an older, established management structure that may not be relevant anymore.”
Fink’s path to the industry was anything but predictable.
He graduated in 1977 from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in music and music education, and did graduate studies in conducting at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
But after deciding he needed a break from music, Fink ended up working in the tailoring department of Louis Boston before joining Bergdorf Goodman as an assistant buyer, eventually starting as a buyer at Saks in 1994. He was named fashion director in 2004.
The relationship between Fink and SCAD isn’t completely new. He served on the advisory board for the School of Design beginning in 2006, and has been a guest critic for the senior fashion class the past three years. SCAD officials said his industry experience made him an ideal candidate for the newly created position.
“SCAD already has such a strong foundation — I’m just here to define the fashion division,” Fink said, who starts today.
With 812 students, compared with 740 a year ago, fashion is the college’s third-largest major after graphic design and animation. SCAD’s overall enrollment last year was 9,330.