Project Runway's Tim Gunn has his own book, a new television series and a new job - all thanks to his well-received role as fashion mentor on the hit American fashion design reality series hosted by Heidi Klum.

Last year, Gunn, 55, wrote a book, A Guide To Quality, Taste And Style, which led Bravo TV network producers to give him his own reality television series, called Tim Gunn's Guide To Style.

The new show, which will see him going to the rescue of women clueless about fashion, will premiere on Channel 5 on Jan 4 next year.

All this almost did not happen for the former associate dean at the famed Parsons The New School for Design in New York.

He reveals that when producers first approached him to be a consultant on the first season of Project Runway in 2004, he nearly turned them down.

'At first, I was very negative about it. I felt that the fashion industry had enough challenges without having a reality show about it,' he says.

He was speaking to Life! from Washington while touring the United States in his new role as Liz Claiborne's chief creative officer, a job he left Parsons to take up in March last year.

The down-to-earth Gunn is thankful for all these opportunities.

'I never dreamt that I would have a career in fashion. In a way, fashion selected me,' he says.

1. What would you say to people who think that fashion is frivolous in the face of more pressing problems in the world?

I say that that's a lot of very arbitrary dismissiveness. I take the industry very, very seriously and I believe strongly how meaningful fashion is.

When someone enters the room, the first thing I notice is gender, and the second thing is how he's dressed. The clothes that we wear send a message of how we want to be perceived, so we have to take responsibility for that.

2. Is it difficult for you when designers on Project Runway leave?

I become very attached to the designers, spiritually and emotionally. So, yes, it's difficult for me when they leave. It's also difficult when they don't choose to listen. I'm not always right and I don't maintain that the designers have to always follow what I have to say. I want them to be prepared to defend their work and speak about these particular issues.

3. You're known on Project Runway for the catchphrase 'Make it work'. Do you have one for Tim Gunn's Guide To Style?

Yes. My phrase is 'I can't want you to succeed more than you do'. Having to deal with these women being fashion- challenged, they are the ones who have to do the heavy lifting to reach the zenith of higher fashion. I can't do it for them.

4. Did you have any reservations about having your own show?

When Bravo approached me about having my own show, we didn't know what the show would be. At that point, yes, I did have reservations because I thought, what would be so compelling about me that would warrant a show?

But what Bravo didn't know was that I was writing a book at that time. They wanted to see it and when I shared it with them, they said: 'This is the show'. So in this regard, I at least have the comfort that the content is driven by me. It is not as if I'm an actor stepping into a show with a script.

5. Which is more challenging: mentoring aspiring fashion designers or guiding women who don't know how to dress?

In some ways it's easier on Guide To Style because I only have to focus on one individual (every episode). On Project Runway, there are so many of them.

6. What are your pet fashion peeves?

I have several. One is the comfort trap, meaning people who just dress for comfort and ignore what they're actually wearing. If you want to dress as though you never got out of bed, don't get out of bed.

A lot of that has to do with unattractive footwear, sweatpants and big, baggy T-shirts which just look sloppy. Another peeve is, there is too much skin being exposed. Bare midriffs are vulgar in my opinion unless you're at the beach, then that's different. But to walk around the city street showing your torso, it's highly inappropriate.

7. Have you been to Singapore before?

I have been to Singapore a number of times. Being mindful that Singapore is an equatorial country with very hot weather, people there dress very sophisticatedly, are polishedlooking and very fashion-aware. I thought people there looked fantastic.

8. If I could live my life all over again...

I would do nothing differently. I say repeatedly that I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Everything that has happened - good, bad, happy, unhappy - has made me who I am. Does that make sense?

view it
TIM GUNN'S GUIDE TO STYLE
Where: Channel 5
When: From Jan 4 next year, Sundays at 3pm