Tim Gunn
Encyclopedia
Timothy M. "Tim" Gunn is an American fashion consultant and television personality. He was on the faculty of Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...

 from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

 at the school from August 2000 to March 2007, after which he joined Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...

 as its chief creative officer
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....

. He is well-known as on-air mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...

 to designers on the reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 program Project Runway
Project Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...

. Gunn's popularity on Project Runway led to his spin-off show, Bravo's Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style is an American reality television series, hosted by Project Runway's Tim Gunn and cohosted by model Veronica Webb in the first season, and cohosted by Gretta Monahan in subsequent seasons. It focuses on style and fashion. The first episode aired on September 6, 2007 on the...

, as well as his book A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style.

Early life

Gunn was born and raised in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 His father, George William Gunn, was an FBI agent during the administration of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...

. Gunn was a champion swimmer throughout high school, and later attended the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...

, receiving a BFA in sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

.

According to a video Gunn created for the It Gets Better
It Gets Better
It Gets Better is an Internet-based project founded in the United States by Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay...

 project, he attempted to commit suicide at the age of 17 by swallowing over 100 pills.

Career

Gunn started working at Parsons in 1982 and served as associate dean from 1989–2000, then became chair in August 2000. He was credited with "retooling and invigorating the curriculum for the 21st century."

Gunn began appearing on Project Runway
Project Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...

 during its first season in 2004, and is known for his catchphrase "Make it work." Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style is an American reality television series, hosted by Project Runway's Tim Gunn and cohosted by model Veronica Webb in the first season, and cohosted by Gretta Monahan in subsequent seasons. It focuses on style and fashion. The first episode aired on September 6, 2007 on the...

, a reality show in which Gunn gives advice to the fashion-challenged, debuted in September 2007 on the Bravo television network.

Gunn also played a version of himself as a reporter for the fictional Fashion TV in two episodes of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

 in February 2007 and later guest starred on Drop Dead Diva
Drop Dead Diva
Drop Dead Diva is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that debuted on Lifetime on July 12, 2009. The hour-long series, which was created by Josh Berman, is produced by Sony Pictures Television...

 in August 2009 as himself.

Gunn left Parsons in 2007 and joined Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...

 as the company's chief creative officer
Chief creative officer
A chief creative officer is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. This position is responsible for the overall look and feel of all materials, media, and branding associated with the organization...

 in March of that year.

In April 2007, Abrams Image Publishers released Gunn's book A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style, co-written with Kate Moloney, cover photo by Markus Klinko & Indrani
Indrani (photographer)
Indrani is an Indian-Canadian director, photographer, and digital artist. She is known for her work for celebrities, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and fashion magazines...

. While on tour in Palm Springs, California, the nearby city of Palm Desert honored him with an official resolution declaring April 27, 2007 (the day of his visit) "Timothy M. Gunn Day". He was also presented with a certificate by the city of Palm Springs and a plaque by the nearby city of Rancho Mirage in recognition of his career achievements. While promoting the book in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

 in May 2007, Gunn joined the judging panel of Project FiveFour 07, to judge gowns designed by 12 students from San Francisco's Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
FIDM, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, is a specialized for-profit private college located in California dedicated to educating students for the Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Interior Design, and Graphic Design industries....

. The competition benefited The Princess Project, a Bay Area charity that gives free prom dresses to high school students who can't afford to buy them on their own.

In May 2009, Gunn served as commencement speaker at the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...

, and received an honorary doctorate from the institution.

He makes sporadic appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...

s "Dear Aquaman" segments, helping or standing in for Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...

 (Ferguson
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...

), answering letters and dispensing advice.

He guest starred as Barney's personal tailor on the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

.

Gunn is guest-starring as himself on the 6th episode of CW's fourth season of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...

, "Easy J".

In other media

In August 2007, "Tim Gunn's Podcast (a reality chamber opera)" by Jeffrey Lependorf premiered at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City. It received its first run one year later at New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...

.

Gunn appeared in a backup story in the first issue of Models Inc., a fashion-themed comic book miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 that debuted in September 2009 to coincide with New York City's style showcase. Gunn appeared on a variant cover of the issue illustrated by Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez is an American comic book writer, artist and penciller, known for his work as writer/artist on Wonder Woman from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005-2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, and his collaborations with writer Grant Morrison on New X-Men and The...

. In the series, which is written by Project Runway fan Mark Sumerak and illustrated by Jimenez, Gunn dons the Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...

 armor to foil an attack against the New York Fashion Museum.

Gunn appeared in the opening skit on the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, took place on August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT...

 to style Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...

 to look like Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, from his Born in the USA album.

Personal life

Gunn lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and is a homoromantic
Affectional orientation
Affectional orientation is used both alternatively and side-by-side with sexual orientation. It is based on the perspective that sexual attraction is but a single component of a larger dynamic. To holders of this view, one's orientation is defined by whom one is predisposed to fall in love with,...

 asexual. In a 2006 interview with Instinct
Instinct (magazine)
Instinct is a monthly American magazine geared toward gay men, published by Instinct Publishing, Inc. since 1997. Distributed by Curtis Circulation...

, Gunn stated that he had not been in a relationship since the early 1980s, following the abrupt end of a six-year relationship, and that he still loves his former partner, though they are not in touch.

Gunn is an outspoken critic of clothing designs using animal fur. In 2008, he narrated a video about rabbit fur farming in China for animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 group PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...

. He termed the treatment of animals used for fur as "egregiously irresponsible".

Filmography

  • Project Runway
    Project Runway
    Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...

     (2004–present)
  • Drinks with LX (2006)
  • Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

     (2007)
  • Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
    Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
    Tim Gunn's Guide to Style is an American reality television series, hosted by Project Runway's Tim Gunn and cohosted by model Veronica Webb in the first season, and cohosted by Gretta Monahan in subsequent seasons. It focuses on style and fashion. The first episode aired on September 6, 2007 on the...

     (2007–2008)
  • American Dad!
    American Dad!
    American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...

     (2008)
  • The Replacements (2008)
  • Drop Dead Diva
    Drop Dead Diva
    Drop Dead Diva is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that debuted on Lifetime on July 12, 2009. The hour-long series, which was created by Josh Berman, is produced by Sony Pictures Television...

     (2009)
  • Project Runway: All-Star Challenge (2009)
  • The Biggest Loser: Second Chances
    The Biggest Loser: Second Chances
    The Biggest Loser: Second Chances is the eighth season of the NBC reality television series The Biggest Loser. The contestants are competing to win a $250,000 prize, which will be awarded to the finalist with the highest percentage of weight loss...

     (2009)
  • How I Met Your Mother
    How I Met Your Mother
    How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

     (2010)
  • Sex and the City 2
    Sex and the City 2
    Sex and the City 2 is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Sex and the City, which is based on the HBO TV series of the same name....

     (2010)
  • Gossip Girl
    Gossip Girl
    Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...

     (2010)
  • The Smurfs
    The Smurfs (film)
    The Smurfs is a 2011 American 3D family film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Peyo and the 1980s animated TV series it spawned. It was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, and Sofía Vergara. It is the first CGI/live-action hybrid film to...

     (2011)
  • Teen Spirit
    Teen Spirit (film)
    Teen Spirit is a television movie starring Cassie Scerbo and Lindsey Shaw. It premiered on ABC Family on August 7, 2011. It is directed by Gil Junger.-Plot:...

     (2011)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK