Fashion designers under the Gunn
With 14 seasons of the longrunning Project Runway firmly under his designer belt, fashion mentor, teacher and television personality Tim Gunn has quietly become the face and voice of the reality series.
‘‘I never dreamed we’d have a season two,’’ said Gunn. ‘‘I’m as mystified as anyone.’’
The show, having now wrapped its 14th season with Gunn and host Heidi Klum at its helm, has long provided a springboard for young, ambitious, and hungry designers – while breaking a few creative spirits in the process.
‘‘There were designers, like you say, that had watched the show, they were familiar with it,’’ he said. ‘‘They’d come on and think that we were just making it up, that the deadline was actually a week, not ten hours. After 29 years as a fashion design tutor, now at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York City, Gunn admits there are many ‘‘commonalities’’ between his role as a teacher and as the quickwitted mentor on Runway, forever urging designers to somehow ‘‘make it work’’.
During season 12, the series chose to introduce a new formula and completely revise their original approach to judging.
In previous seasons, there was a separation between the designer’s den and the judging panel, until newly judge and designer Zac Posen decide to ‘‘manhandle’’ a model’s ensemble.
‘‘After models had walked the runway and designer’s had presented, Zac would sneak off backstage and start virtually manhandling the garments, I was just furious,’’ said Gunn.
‘‘You couldn’t do that, it wasn’t fair. You know, observing the hems, assessing the execution, it’s just not how it was done.’’
Instead of stopping it, the show’s producers decided to formalise the process as part of the judging. ‘‘The designers no longer had time to obsess over a rounded sleeve, they had to look at the big things, the judges’ minutia, being able to work in this time frame, the fit of the model.’’
When asked if Gunn had a favourite contestant or teacher’s pet, the veteran mentor said: ‘‘Oh, Sean Kelly of course, he’s extremely talented and he’s going to make it [big]. And I’m not just bowing to New Zealand, Sean Kelly was my favourite contestant.
‘‘There are characteristics to success that I believe are universal,’’ he said. ‘‘Some of them are obvious but I believe stubbornness can hold a designer back, rejecting criticism or advise, the inability to synthesise that advice. The unwillingness to collaborate and being uncollaborative. Fashion, if anything, is collaboration.’’
As a seasoned mentor and teacher, Gunn has some sage advice for aspiring Project Runway contestants.
‘‘Know who you are as a designer, know your point of view. If your line were to be carried in a high fashion department store, which designers would you want to be surrounded by?’’ he said.