Michael Fink can make ANY fashion item sound fabulous. His highly refined fashion vocabulary reveals latent beauty in a shoe, dress or handbag. As the former Women’s Fashion Director at Saks Fifth Avenue, he has one of the best-trained eyes in fashion. Yes, he was the guy making strategic decisions on what womens wear Saks would carry. Michael has a front row seat to fashion. He can easily spot what is stylish, he knows what will sell, and he knows how to sell it. On top of that, he also has the conceptual mind of an academic to spot the macro-trends– separating the proverbial forest from the trees.
So it is no surprise that the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) invited him to be the Dean of their new School of Fashion.
The School of Fashion Design at SCAD
Kaplan ranked SCAD as one of the “most interesting” and most “cutting edge” schools in the US. So one would expect that things are done slightly differently there. With the addition of Michael Fink, SCAD scored a major coup. Not only is Michael rare as an experienced and accomplished practitioner in the field of fashion, he also has the intellectual rigor to teach these subjects in an academic environment.
Our Interview with Michael Fink
Michael is a man of many talents. But do you know that he started out his career training to be a conductor? Don’t miss this informative and fascinating conversation with Michael Fink. Here are some highlights. The video is below:
- Who is a fashion expert?
- Never take a best friend shopping! – Who you should take instead
- Fashion Week F/W 2010 – Michael’s fascinating perspective. What are the must have items and big trends? How to see “the meat of the designer’s intent.”
- How Michael was on track to be a world famous conductor
- Michael’s early childhood passion for music and his musical influences
- How a bad teacher changed everything for Michael, in a good way
- No Fashion Experience – How Michael got started in the world of fashion and fell in love with exquisite tailoring
- The Designer as Conductor – Both seem like showy positions. What are the challenges? Michael and Drue explore this parallel.
- Brava Donna Karan – Michael gives high praise for Donna Karan’s 2010 F/W Collection. How Donna took an unexpected part of the body and accentuated it elegantly.
- Bravo Marc Jacobs – Michael loves the “calmness of the design principle” in his 2010 F/W Collection
- Bravo Fern Mallis – Kudos to Fern Mallis, IMG and CFDA!
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[...] Kataoka from the blog StyleHug recently interviewed Michael Fink during New York Style Week. The video has now been posted [...]