SCAD appoints fragrance strategist Paul Austin as executive in residence

The Savannah College of Art and Design has appointed fragrance industry strategist and creative director Paul Austin as its executive in residence for the 2026–2027 academic year, according to a press release shared by the university. Austin, the founder of New York-based Austin Advisory Group and co-creator of LilaNur Parfums, previously mentored at the SCAD Perfume Atelier during the 2025–2026 academic calendar.

In this expanded capacity, he will advise students, faculty, and academic leadership across the School of Fashion, the De Sole School of Business Innovation, and the School of Building Arts, guiding cross-disciplinary projects that translate olfactory and sensory design into commercial fashion, branding, and built environments.

Austin’s career reflects significant commercial scale across the fragrance and luxury sectors, having formerly served as global head of fine fragrances at Quest International and subsequent senior vice president of fine fragrances following its acquisition by Givaudan. His advisory portfolio includes corporate collaborations with Estée Lauder Companies, SK-II, and Rolls-Royce, as well as a strategic post with French natural ingredients house Robertet.

At SCAD, his advisory remit encompasses programs in luxury and brand management, beauty and fragrance business, fashion marketing, fashion design, and interior design, framing olfaction not merely as an isolated consumer product, but as an experiential medium spanning retail environments and spatial design.

The appointment signals how leading creative institutions are adapting curriculum models to meet the luxury sector’s increasing reliance on multi-sensory branding and experiential retail. By bridging business education, spatial architecture, and fashion product development through established practitioners, design universities reinforce professional placement outcomes and institutional viability.

As luxury houses place greater commercial weight on proprietary fragrance and sensory identity, integrating high-level corporate expertise directly into studio coursework offers students a tangible pathway into specialized creative management roles.