Parsons the New School for Design's guru Tim Gunn joined the reality television Project Runway back in 2004. Now in its eighth season, he continues to "carry on," helping contestants to work the runway.
Windy City Times: Hi, Tim. So you have a bigger show this year with Project Runway going an hour and a half.
Tim Gunn: Hello, Jerry. I honestly don't know how the additional time is being filled. I will say this, though: Based on seven seasons of experience, we have so much content that never ever reaches the air that it should not be an issue for the editors and the producers in general to fill that time.
When I reflect upon season seven, we barely see the Q&A between the judges and the designers. We barely hear anything out of the deliberation. You get a sound bite when, in fact, the Q&A and the deliberation go on anywhere from four to six hours. So you think about it, if you just want to be a fly on the wall, it's very easy to fill in that time. Frankly, I'll say—somewhat egotistically— [ that ] I feel the same way about my critiques in the workroom. You would think that I check in with four designers, sometimes only three, when, in fact, I'm giving equal time to everybody. So there's a lot of material that never reaches the air that now our 90-minute format conceivably can [ show to viewers ] .
WCT: So they didn't have to film extra footage?
Tim Gunn: No, taping season eight for me was no different than taping any previous season. Though I will tell you this, there's an additional beat in the season and that is a one-on-one camera interview with me about things that are happening and frankly about the outcomes. I'm my candid, honest, truth-telling self and that means I don't know how much of that they're actually going to put in the show.
WCT: You also have more designers than ever. Was this more challenging?
Tim Gunn: For me, yes, even when it's 16 people; it's so many designers and just making the rounds of the workroom takes forever. And, I have to tell you, I end up being, in some ways, spent and just exhausted physically and mentally because it's a lot of work for me to really understand what each individual designer is attempting to achieve and then how to speak to them about my view of how successful this is or not and what I believe would benefit them. It requires a lot of brain-searching and conjuring up former experiences.
I will share this with you: With the 17 designers I can't make it around to all of them. There isn't enough time. So, it's the only time that I haven't been able to do that. When we are down to 16 designers, yes. It's done, and it's achieved.
WCT: People don't take your suggestions seriously sometimes. How do you deal with that?
Tim Gunn: Well, it comes through 29 years of teaching and knowing that, with some degree of frequency, I'll leave the classroom just to give the students a little bit of breathing space and I figure that they're probably trash-talking about me. And I will tell you this: There's a designer this season who takes it upon him or herself to walk around to the designers after I've done my critique to add comments about this designer's viewpoint of whether I gave each designer good advice or bad advice and what this particular designer would advise them to do. And I reached a point where I will say I became rather frustrated by it because I thought I don't want this individual to be undermining what I say.
So at one point when I'm leaving the workroom, I declare it to the entire room, "Listen to your own voice. You may have someone coming up to you suggesting that that individual knows better than you what you should be doing with your work, but that individual's not responsible for your presentation of your work on the runway. So, in fact, if you're recalibrating your thinking based on what this person's telling you, I would advise against it."
WCT: Have you had a favorite season of Project Runway so far?
Tim Gunn: The reason it's difficult for me to answer is because I look at each season the way that I look at each semester of students I've had. I grow very attached to them, and there are different emotions that I associate with each season just as I do with these semesters of students.
I will say, though, I loved season three and the opportunity of going to Paris. I thought that was wonderful for everyone, though Vincent Libretti in that season was driving everyone crazy; in fact, by that point, the designers, more than he, had been driving me crazy. But each season has a different resonance and different DNA according to the designers who are on the show.
WCT: It must be nice to look back at all of the accomplishments.
Tim Gunn: It's interesting to have time to reflect upon the seasons and go back and look at them again because I do have the DVDs [ but ] I don't want you to think I'm totally obsessed and sitting in my apartment all day and all night watching reruns of Project Runway, but I do enjoy going back and reliving it. What constantly blows me away, though, is the level and quality of the work that they execute.
Seasons one and two, there was a lot of dubious work and work that was simply poorly made, and that meant that the runway deliberation was, in some ways, rather easy. When the work is really all well made, it gets much, much harder. It becomes much more a matter of taste, and in fact, you'll see that in season eight.
WCT: Do you still keep in touch with designers from previous seasons?
Tim Gunn: I do. Well, as much as they want to keep in touch with me. I am very careful not to force myself upon anyone. The designers sometimes do get back in touch with me about professional advice or life, or they just want to have a cup of coffee or glass of wine. I am thrilled to see them!
WCT: I just talked to A.J. Thouvenot from this season. He said great things about you.
Tim Gunn: He is an incredibly talented designer and a sweetheart of a guy.
WCT: How does this season compare to other seasons?
Tim Gunn: It's a very interesting group and, in terms of the chemistry among them, one that I've never really experienced in a prior season. They're fragile in terms of their ego. So I always felt as though I was tiptoeing around glass that I didn't want to break while still delivering what I'm responsible for delivering and what's good for them—a truth-telling session in the work room and an opportunity for them to look anew critically and analytically at their work.
And I will also say I don't know of a prior season when I have felt such profound fondness for everyone, even one designer with whom I have a serious antipathy at the beginning of the season. It dissipates, and we become pals later. It was very hard. We just wrapped, and it was very hard to say goodbye to them.
WCT: Do you say "make it work" in everyday life?
Tim Gunn: You know, I do, but I have to say I've become very self-conscious about it. I fear that people so expect it that I end up being just this predictable catch-phrase person. I'm happy to say that this season of the show I only invoked the phrase when it was really necessary, and I was grateful that the producers weren't on top of me saying, "Go in there and say 'make it work.'" No, I did it when it was necessary and appropriate, and there are moments that are really and truly "make it work" moments.
WCT: Where did the saying come from? Teaching?
Tim Gunn: Oh, absolutely. It came from my classrooms and, in fact, I even remember the first time I used it. This was the senior year class and the course I was teaching was concept development, and it works in tandem with a course in which the students actually execute their collection. I had a student who—It was March; she was going to throw the entire collection away, literally and metaphorically, and start a new one. I said, "We are presenting these collections in four weeks. You're looking at five months of work, and you're saying you're going to get rid of it and start all over again?" I said, "You're not."
I said, "You're going to look at the situation at hand, offer up a diagnosis for what's wrong, a prescription and then a prescription for how to make it work. You've got to make this work. You're not going to start all over again. Period." This was many years ago this happened, I find that with student that they then end up having this incredible resource within themselves for how to problem solve as they move forward as opposed to just starting all over again. And, okay, it works, but do you know why? So it's a very useful lesson.
On Project Runway, it's nothing if not "make it work." Because as I'm always saying to the designers, once we leave Mood [ the store where contestants get their fabrics ] , that's it. Whatever you have is what you have, and you're not going shopping again. You're not retooling this. It's "make it work" time.
WCT: I love it. We are excited to see you at Borders in the future.
Tim Gunn: I am thrilled as well. I think I am there on [ Sept. ] 13.
WCT: We will see you there!
Watch Tim Gunn on the new season of Project Runway on the Lifetime Channel; for details go to mylifetime.com . To meet him in person, drop by Borders, 830 N. Michigan, on Monday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m.
