Congrats on your insanely fabulous year! The book, your own TV show, becoming the Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Season 4 of Project Runway – darling, you sound like you need a nap! How are you keeping your head on straight (you'll pardon the term)?
Oh, Tom and Lorenzo! I’m ready for a hospital gurney and a one-way ticket to the nearest asylum. Seriously though, without the incredible support that I’m receiving from my boss at Liz Claiborne, Inc, the incredible Bill McComb, I couldn’t juggle all of these moving parts.
Tell us a bit about the show. How does it differ from other makeover shows on TV? What do you think of your co-host, the gorgeous Veronica Webb?
Guide To Style is a different iteration of makeover show. The individuals with whom Veronica and I work each week have self-declared their need for help, rather than being the object of an intervention. Veronica and I do not make decisions, nor do we drive up in a van full of clothes. We guide and support and, hopefully, educate. Yes, there is the inevitable shopping journey, but only after several days of lessons. And Veronica Webb? I don’t have an adequate vocabulary of accolades to describe her. And let me assert that she’s as brainy as she is beautiful.
Lately, one sees after your name the term "Style Expert" and yet that seems a little off to us. We would have classified you more as a "Design Expert." This isn't to say that you don't exhibit expertise in style – because of course, you do - but your real strength as a personality comes from your years as an educator of design. Is this a "rebranding" of Tim Gunn or have you always seen yourself as a style expert? What is the difference between being a design educator and a style expert?
Style expert? It must be a term used by others, because I would never give myself that moniker. I am a design educator, plain and simple. I have also been referred to as a “stylist.” Bull! Rest assured that there is no rebranding in effect.
What exactly does a Chief Creative Officer do and what are your plans for the Liz Claiborne brand?
In my role as CCO at Liz Claiborne, I interact with the designers across the myriad brands within the company (see www.lizclaiborne.com). A primary aspect of my role is to be an advocate at the executive level for the several hundred designers across those brands. Regarding Liz Claiborne Apparel, the founding brand of the company, its healthy future is a priority for me and the company. Liz Claiborne was a seminal force in American design and fashion merchandising and we are all determined to regain her legendary momentum.
What's next for Tim Gunn? World domination?
How about unpacking the several hundred boxes that have been sitting idle in my new apartment since my move in late May? That, and just keeping my head above water!
(Photos: Courtesy of Bravotv.com)
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