JOANNA HUNKIN talks to Tim Gunn about the new series of Project Runway and how it gets sewn up behind the scenes
KEY POINTS:
WITH a sharp eye for detail and an equally sharp tongue, Project Runway's Tim Gunn knows what works. When he claps his hands and orders contestants to "make it work" they do so unquestioningly, trusting in their stylish taskmaster and mentor.
As season five returns to New Zealand
television tomorrow, we catch up with the straight-shooting but ever-charming Gunn, who confesses he often disagrees with the judges' verdicts.
So Project Runway's on a bit of a hiatus at the moment while they sort out some legal problems ...
Well we're only on hiatus from actually airing. We've taped most of season six. In fact, all that we have ahead is New York Fashion Week. We did the bulk of the show, I did my home visits to the finalists two weeks ago. We have a great season.
And are you worried that the hold-up might see the series date at all?
You know, if anything, I was worried that we were going to be airing too soon. Season five finished airing here in the middle of October and Runway 6 was supposed to start in November. I thought "that's too soon". The Lifetime Network was keen to get it on air quickly, which I absolutely understand, and no one was anticipating this awful lawsuit.
But I'm confident the show will air. It's a little odd going into Fashion Week, though. We'll be showing on February 20 and no one in the audience will know who any of the designers are. It's very peculiar.
But the winner isn't announced at Fashion Week, right?
No, we show the finalists and then we go back to Parsons [School for Design] and the judges have a question-and-answer session with the designers and then they have their deliberations. The winner isn't determined until later that day.
You obviously work behind the scenes in the workroom as a mentor to the designers. Do you have any contact with the judges and report back what's going on there?
No. It is Church and State. We remain separate. I say hello to them, I say goodbye to them, and that's it. Heidi will sometimes beg me, "What's been going on?" and "What do you think?" Nope, I won't do it. It's so important - and this is why I can't be a judge - I'm too loaded with information about who's struggled, who goofed off, who really annoyed me ... And who just pulled this design out of their hat at the last minute. For the judges, it's just like being at Bryant Park for the show. The work comes down the runway and they have no idea what happened backstage. They simply evaluate the work. They're armed with the cumulative effect of what the designers have been presenting on the runway but certainly nothing behind the scenes.
And have you ever felt the wrong person won? Or, at least, not the person you wanted to?
All the time. All - the - time. I frequently scratch my head and ask "what are they smoking?" You know what it is though, largely? The first season and for a good share of the second season, there was so much work that was badly made, it was easy to know what was going home. It was so poorly, horribly made, it had to be going.
Once we got to season three, it became a much more even playing field in terms of skill level. So it became a matter of taste. I say to the designers, before they go down the runway, "It's anybody's game. Everything's beautifully executed and prepared, and you've styled the models wonderfully. It's just a matter of taste."
I understand you studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts and you majored in sculpture. Tell me, how does one go from sculpture to fashion?
My fine arts background, and that included a lot of art history, really gave me a critical eye for evaluating the physical world and it helped give me a vocabulary to talk about it. Then my 24 years at Parsons really gave me a design education. It was at Parsons I really learned the difference between fine art and design, and developed a huge respect for design. Especially fashion. Because when we look at the development of mankind, what do we look at? We look at the environment in which we lived and the clothes that we wore. Today, I'm always talking about the semiotics of clothes. Clothes send a message about how we're perceived. For me, I think fashion and architecture are the two most important design fields that we have.
So you've never been tempted to try your own hand at designing?
No. One of the reasons I believe I was a successful teacher and why I believe I'm successful in the workroom as a mentor, is because I'm never trying to design it for them. I have to channel who they are, try to understand as best I can what their goals are, and then help them achieve those goals. As opposed to saying, "well you know, I wouldn't make this
an A-line skirt, I'd make it an exuberant, full-circle skirt". I'm never doing that. And what you don't hear on the show, when we have guest judges, they frequently sit and tell you what they would have done. "I would never have chosen that fabric and I would have put this jacket on ..." It's like, "you know something? We don't care what you would have done". By not being a designer, I don't have an aesthetic that I want
to push on anyone. Of course I subscribe to quality, taste and style, but I don't have a particular axe to grind.
Obviously you see a lot of burgeoning talent come through Project Runway, some of it's trained and some of it's self-taught. What's your stance on formal training? Is it neccessary or is natural talent enough?
I do believe that natural talent is very special and should be respected. At the same time, my real issue when it comes to not having an education in this field has to do with critical analysis and being in a situation
where you develop a skin. You realise the critique isn't about you personally, it's about the work. We have a designer in season five who really suffers from that. This designer is incredibly talented but cannot reconcile criticism. It's a handicap in my view.
Now, we're in the middle of awards season and I know you do red carpet fashion commentary. Who's making your best-dressed list thus far?
Can I be horribly honest with you? I have been so completely up to my eyeballs with my Liz Claiborne work, I haven't been paying any attention. I wasn't at the Golden Globes and I wasn't at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. I will be at the Oscars, however. I will tell you though,
I am frequently criticised for my red carpet commentary. At last year's Oscars, I loved the Lanvin dress Tilda Swinton wore that other people said looked like a black plastic rubbish bag. And I said, I stand in support of that dress.on Tilda Swinton. It goes back to semiotics. Tilda Swinton is a bohemian, she is not a traditionalist or a classicist. That dress told you everything you need to know about her. Would I put that dress on Sally Field? Never!
I saw one of Christian Siriano's designs [season four winner] was on the red carpet at the SAGs. Do you see many of the other contestants' designs around?
Well Heidi wore one of his dresses at last year's Emmys. I would love to know in advance of these things but everybody's so busy. From my experience, the decision about who you're actually wearing on the red carpet can happen at the very last minute. It's like Michelle
Obama and the inauguration gown. There were half a dozen dresses that she could have worn and she wore Jason Wu's. You just don't know. Jason didn't know until she was wearing it. He burst into tears! He was my student at Parsons so I know him quite well. It was a lovely moment.
And going back to Project Runway, is there a season seven in store or are you still waiting to see what happens with season six?
Well here's my understanding. If NBC wins this lawsuit, then they have to match the Lifetime offer to the Weinstein Company. If they choose to not match it, then it goes back to Lifetime. I believe either way there will be a season seven.
And has it affected your relationship with the show and how you feel about it? You're still keen to be involved?
If anything, it makes me worry about the future. I adore the show. I love working with Heidi and I love our producers. Taping season one, I never dreamed there would be a season two. I never dreamed it would become this phenomenon. So I worry about it. But I try to have a positive outlook.
LOWDOWN
Who: TIM GUNN
Born: July 29, 1953 in Washington D.C, US
What: Fashion follower and designer mentor on Project Runway, hosted by Heidi Klum.
When: Season five premieres Friday, 9.30pm on TV3