Interview with Tim Gunn: “When I think about the future of fashion, I really don’t think about new silhouettes and new styles. I think about new materials.”
Project Runway’s Tim Gunn talks about fashion and innovation: a convergence that never ceases to amaze people. Whether on the catwalk or in our closets, the today’s styles and fashions continue to change; what distinguishes the past from the present, and even the future, is the development of the materials and the ways of production, which are ever increasing in the fashion-forward society in which we live.
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In an interview on America’s TV program “Tomorrow Show”, hosted by journalist Mo Rocca, Tim Gunn states: “When I think about the future of fashion, I really don’t think about new silhouettes and new styles. I think about new materials.” In the future, neither the fashions nor the forms will change; instead it will be the materials that are used to make the clothes that will evolve. It will be the convergence of technology, science, and fashion that will change what we see in our closets. While no one really has a concrete idea of what that will look like, Tim Gunn has a few concepts of his own. In 1989, Gunn became the associate dean at Parsons in New York City, and held many conferences on design and fashion. In 2000, he became the department chair in the department of fashion design. Through his position at the school, he was able to encourage the department’s development by introducing the study of Commercial Fashion Business and Critical Thinking, as well as Fashion Luxury Design. These changes were monumental for the school, as it allowed Parsons to gain international notoriety.
These accomplishments are only a few examples of how Gunn’s critical vision of the future and his sensibility has shaped the world of fashion. Undoubtedly, however, his passion has allowed him to achieve so much. As a child, he faced speech problems that he attributes to one of the reasons why he gravitated towards the arts as another way of expressing himself. Fashion and design became his gateway to the creative world. Beyond his educational successes, Tim Gunn is also one of the hosts on the popular American design show “Project Runway”, and the chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne.
Gunn doesn’t deny that clothing in the future could well be more tech savvy. However, he maintains that while technology changes, beautiful will always be beautiful. What qualities people find beautiful will not change, but the way we manufacture our materials certainly will. Gunn stresses the importance of a greener and healthier way to manufacture materials, especially cotton. He hopes that more materials will be replaced by synthetic versions, much in the same way leather and fur have largely been replaced by their synthetic substitutes.
Although it may be possible to soon create machines that will help us pick out our daily outfits, or help make custom clothing design much easier, some things will never change. As Time Gunn points out, certain things will always be more pleasing to the eye. This does not mean, however, that the fashion world cannot keep up with the rest of society and find ways to make clothes that help people and the environment look their best.
There are already examples of this new fashion trend that incorporates technology in the world of fashion. New technologies have allowed clothing to become more interactive, such as materials that can emit light in different colors. Who would have ever believed that sub-nuclear physics could be used to make clothing more innovative and fashionable? Not only do the words of Tim Gunn seem completely feasible, they are also somewhat prophetic.
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