Bio
Tim Gunn is an American fashion consultant and television personality best known for mentoring the designers on the reality competition television series Project Runway.
He was chair of fashion design at Parsons The New School for Design from August 2000 to March 2007 and is well-known as on-air mentor to designers on the reality television competition series Project Runway.
Gunn's popularity on Project Runway led to his spin-off show, Bravo's Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, as well as his book A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style.
Gunn has been a vital part of the Parsons community for more than 22 years. In August 2000, he was appointed chair of the fashion design program with the charge of retooling and invigorating the curriculum for the 21st century.
Under Gunn's direction, the department has strengthened its position as the indisputable leader in fashion design education in America and as one of only a handful of leading programs in the world.
The school celebrated the centennial of the program, which was the first of its kind in the USA, in 2006.
Gunn credits the seminal changes in the department's curriculum with the meteoric success of the dynamic design duo of Jack McCollough ’02 and Lazaro Hernandez ‘02 of Proenza Schouler, whose senior year thesis collection was bought off the school's runway by Barneys New York.
This academic and fashion industry "first" was a mere bellwether for the graduating classes to follow and set in motion an industry clamouring for young, innovative design talent, including up and coming designers such as Ashleigh Verrier ’04.
Prior to his appointment as chair of the fashion design program, Gunn spent most of his career at Parsons as Associate Dean of the school.
In that capacity, he worked closely with the academic departments and helped develop programs and relationships abroad, including the international spectrum of Parsons affiliates in Paris, Korea, Japan and the Dominican Republic.
Gunn has lectured widely on fashion and lifestyle design and Parsons' influential role in putting America on the global design map.
His interviews have appeared in publications as diverse as Time and Newsweek, Crain's New York Business, Martha Stewart Living, Elle Magazine and Women's Wear Daily, and his television interviews have appeared on CBS, NBC, and the Metro Channel.
He has garnered critical acclaim for his role on Project Runway, a reality-based, fashion design television series that received an Emmy nomination for its first season.