'Project Runway's' Tim Gunn aims for truth in new book

On Wednesday evening, Huntington's Book Revue hosts Tim Gunn, host of Lifetime's "Project Runway" and author of a new book, "Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work" (Gallery Books, $23.99).

Gunn will speak about his book, a combination etiquette guide and memoir that is, by turns, dishy, touching, revelatory and hilarious. He will sign books for the first 200 people who buy them; signed copies will also be available for purchase.

How accurate is the show in portraying you and the rest of the cast?

In general, the portrayals are very accurate. The producers have a tremendous amount of integrity and, frankly, if "the truth" was even remotely filled out with tricks and contrivances, I would dissociate myself from the show right away. Since this season has been "supersized" , we have been able to build more depth of character than ever before, and that includes me. Some people have said to me, "You have a lot more to say this season," but I'm no different than I have ever been. The shows are just longer.

Is that what accounts for your taking down of Gretchen a few weeks ago? Have you spoken to the contestants that way before, but it was never captured on camera?

No, that moment was unprecedented. I've never done that before. In fact, I went to the producers beforehand and said that I needed to have a word with "team luxe" and their self-appointed chairman. I wanted every team member to hear me. I wanted A.J., the sacrificial lamb, to hear me. I wanted the other team to hear me. The producers said, "Do it."

I found it very satisfying that you said exactly what I'd been thinking.

That's one of the roles I have on the show. I'm the voice of the audience. I figure that if I'm having this reaction, I can't be the only one. As Gretchen continued to melt down and escalate the level of psychosis, I was getting more and more exercised. Some things just need to be said, and my job is to be the truth teller.

In the workroom, there seems to be a fine line between offering feedback and giving advice that might make a losing design into a winning one. How do you calibrate your advice so that you're not giving any designer an unfair advantage?

I feel a responsibility to every contestant, and I talk to each of them as if I were their own coach. I really do want each of them to win. That's how I try to maintain an even playing field.

I learned from the book that you pushed for the designers to do their own sewing. How many working designers could sew their own designs? Could Michael Kors?

He certainly could. Of course, he doesn't sew now, but good designers know how to construct a garment. Michael, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan - if they didn't know how to sew, they couldn't critique the end product.

You studied sculpture in art school, then worked as a sculptor and model maker before becoming a teacher and administrator at Parsons. How did you wind up in fashion?

At Parsons my administrative position evolved to where I was the associate dean, working with all the academic programs. I became known as a Mr. Fixit. In 2000, we went looking for a new dean for our fashion program, and during the process we discovered that the program was in crisis. The curriculum hadn't changed in 50 years. It was a dressmaking school, not a fashion-design program. No courses in fashion history, textiles, technology. There wasn't a single faculty member who wasn't a graduate. The morale was terrible, horrible malaise.

We suspended the search and I worked directly with them not only on the course content but on the pedagogy. I didn't have prior experience in fashion. I couldn't compare the program to what I did as a student. That's why I was successful in the role.

Why did you leave Parsons?

I never dreamed I would leave Parsons; I thought I'd retire there. But in 2006 I got a call from the new CEO of Liz Claiborne , who wanted to meet me. We had been talking for about 40 minutes and I thought, "How lucky is this company to have this dynamic, visionary leader." Then he said that he'd created a position for me, chief creative officer. At our second meeting I told him, "I'm deeply flattered and very honored, but I have to tell you that I'm having the best time I've ever had in my whole life and I don't want to give anything up." He said, "Are you kidding? I'm thrilled that you're doing these things. I want you to keep doing them and, what's more, when you're not doing them anymore I will still want you."

Liz Claiborne is right across the street from Parsons School of Fashion, so it's the same subway stop and the same coffee vendor.

What do you do at Liz Claiborne?

Bill and I agreed that I don't design and I don't edit. I'm there as a mentor, a therapist and an advocate to designers across all the brands . I've also evolved to be a "brand ambassador." We do mall events with multiple brands, Q&As, meet-and-greets. We show clothes from sizes 6 to 16. They are joyful events.

How did you go about writing the book?

There would be no book without my collaborator, Ada Calhoun. A month into the process I told my agent, "I can't do this." He said, "I want you to meet somebody." As soon as I met Ada, I felt I'd met a kindred spirit. She said, "All you have to do is write 5,000 words a week and turn them over to me. I'm going to cobble them together and we'll meet once a week." Together we decided what we wanted the golden rules to be, and which stories and observations would go where.

The book includes a lot of very candid remarks about a lot of prominent people - Anna Wintour, Isaac Mizrahi, Martha and Alexis Stewart - as well as frank assessments of "Project Runway" contestants. Not to mention what you reveal about your own relationship history and your family's dynamics. How did you reconcile your belief in good manners with this sort of forthrightness?

Well, I see myself as a truth teller. As far as the personal stories, I was surely ambivalent about what I reveal about myself. But you know, people come up to me all the time who believe they know me. They share these things about themselves that are so deep and personal. They trust me with these things. And I felt it's only fair that I trust them in return.

What do you think of "What Not to Wear"?

I'm very fond of Clinton and Stacey. What I don't like about the show is that it's an intervention - that the person didn't ask for help on her own. I have no problem with the way anyone dresses as long as they take responsibility for it. You know, if you see someone on the street dressed as a circus clown, you shouldn't make fun of him. He may actually be a circus clown.