Gunn's Golden Rules

Get Inspired If It Kills You

WHEN I WAS TEACHING at Parsons, I went to visit our New York exchange students who were studying in Paris, France. With an expectant smile on my face, I asked them how things were going. I was so happy for them. How lucky they are,I thought, to have this glorious academic and cultural experience.I expected to hear stories about their walking through the city at night, strolling through the Louvre and the Picasso Museum with a notebook, eating baguettes beneath the Eiffel Tower …

“Oh, it’s so boring here,” they complained.

It was a good thing I wasn’t eating a baguette, because I can guarantee you I would have choked on it.

“Boring?”I spluttered. “You’re in the middle of Paris! Dullness is of your own making. You are in one of the most spectacular cities on this planet. You should be ashamed of yourselves for even using that word. Ashamed!”

The last Project Runwayhome visit of Season 7, I had a similar, horrible encounter with the designer Emilio Sosa.

He lived in upper Manhattan, and so I said, “What’s it like having the Cloisters in your own backyard?”

If you don’t know, the Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to medieval art and architecture. It contains thousands of works of art, including some of our most incredible ancient textiles, such as the Unicorn Tapestries from the fifteenth century.

“I’ve never been,” Emilio asserted, with what I perceived to be pride. “I don’t believe in anything that has to do with religion.”

I confess, I am not at all religious myself, but I had to grasp onto a support to keep from toppling over with incredulity.

“Every corpuscle of every society in the history of this globe has religion at its core!” I brayed at him. “We’re not talking about converting. We’re talking about walking a few blocks to look at some of the greatest art of all time. Why would you shut yourself off like that?”

I love New York City and am so inspired by it. It’s a magical place to me. Even when it’s muggy and gross and the subway stinks, I am completely captivated by the city and find new things to love every day.

Walking to the subway one day on my usual route, I saw an antique store I’d never noticed before. It had clearly been there for ages and I’d walked by it a million times, but I’d never noticed it. It was like it appeared magically. Then when I walked into my neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts for my morning coffee, the woman behind the counter smiled and asked, “Where have you been?”

I’d been out of town for Project Runwayhome visits for a few days, and this quasi-stranger had noticed and missed me. I’d missed her, too, as well as everything about this city. It reveals just enough of itself every day that I’m never bored and never overwhelmed.

The other designer who I thought didn’t like me, Jay Nicolas Sario, really stepped it up with his collection, and he and I healed and repaired during the home visit. But things got worse with Emilio.

I did not like the collection. He just looked at me and said that I frequently told him things, and the judges told him the opposite.

“I have no expectation that you will do anything I suggest,” I said, “but I’m only trying to help you. I see a matronly collection with problematic colors. If the judges don’t see that, too, I’m going to wonder what’s wrong with them.”

Regarding the judges’ and their critical opinions, my mantra is: Chacun à son gôut;that is, it’s a matter of taste.

Emilio is a very talented designer, but to me he seemed to lack inspiration, and in my book that is a cardinal sin.

OCCASIONALLY, WHEN I was teaching, I would have a student who would ask me, “How do I get inspiration?”

I wanted to respond: “Drugs? I don’t know! Whatever it takes.”

“I’m just not inspired,” these art studentswould say to me.

I found it so shocking. What were they doing in art school if they didn’t feel the call to create? It’s a hard life, and there’s very little money in it. They should have gone into another line of work if they didn’t feel inspired.

“Well, how can I findinspiration?” they would ask.

“Look around you!” I would say. “Look out the window. Go for a walk. Go to a movie. Go to a museum. Go see a show. Read a book. Go to the library. Take the Circle Line. Have a conversation.”

That’s one of the main things I look at when I interview designers being considered for Project Runway:their inspirations.

With each year of the show, I’ve learned more about what would work. Season 3 was a threshold where we no longer had clothes that weren’t well made. Since then, it’s all about the relevance of the designers’ points of view. A lot of time people who are outstanding seamstresses will say, “How can you turn me down? Look at this craftsmanship.” But that’s not what we’re looking for. We want people with real ideas.

In the auditions we see a lot of gimmicky clothes, with too many bells and whistles and zippers everywhere—things that turn inside out and become a tent.

“You can’t do this on the show,” I tell these designers. “You can’t make a prom dress that doubles as a jet pack in the course of a one-day challenge.” It’s like someone who brings in intricate hand-knitted sweaters. You can’t do that on the show. There just isn’t time.

Coming out of Season 5, I became suspicious of people who didn’t come out of a conservatory-type academic environment. They haven’t been through a critique. They don’t know that it’s about the clothes, not about them. Kenley’s a good example. She took everything so personally and wore her defensiveness on her sleeve.

Designers need to know what’s going on in the fashion world. I’m always so shocked when a major name comes up and the designers don’t know it.

We have a huge questionnaire that we have applicants fill out, and there are three sections that I flip to: Education, Job Experience, and Favorite and Least Favorite Designers. Favorite designers usually include Chanel (often misspelled Channel), Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Karl Lagerfeld. (Is the distinction made between Lagerfeld’s own collection and his work for Chanel? Rarely.) There are rarely any American designers on the list. I’m over being surprised because I’m so used to it. But I still ask them about it.

“Why are there no American designers in either best or worst?”

“They’re dull,” the contestants often say.

That’s like saying all American food is bland. That can’t be true, because there are so many different kinds, from hot wings to chicken-fried steak to New York bagels. The American design world has figures as different as Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui, and Ralph Lauren.

“We’re looking for the next great Americanfashion designer,” I respond to the anti-American applicants. “How do you feel about that?”

It’s amazing to me. When you probe and ask what they like about Christian Lacroix they say, “I love couture.”

Well, how many jobs are there out there for couturiers? Almost none. So maybe you should have a backup plan? And as long as you live in this country, maybe you should be able to at least talk seriously about what’s been done here in this world you’re likely to enter.

Similarly, if the auditioning designer’s work is executed brilliantly but there’s nothing new or innovative, who cares? That’s what I would say of portfolios that were full of copies of clothing that already exists.

I would say, “Who wants to see nothing but perfect technical prowess? You need to use that to say something that’s unique to you. Look around you! You see … a pile of books, a cloud in the sky, a fireplace. How do you interpret any of that?”

Some students tell me, “I need a photograph as a point of reference.”

You thinkyou need a photograph! You just need to push yourself. Similarly, if you have great ideas, you have a responsibility to the ideas to present the work well.

The greatest compliment the show receives is that most of the people who try to get on Project Runwayaren’t in it for fame. They want their fashion brand to flourish. With the exception of Santino Rice, who is now a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race,the drag talent competition on Logo, no one’s gone on to be a TV personality.

Speaking of Santino, when he was asked to do the Project Runway: All-Star Challengespecial, I told the producers it was a huge mistake. “It’s going to be The Santino Show,” I said. And it was. I love Santino, I really do, but I’ve never met anyone else who so completely sucks the air out of a room.

I don’t enjoy people who think they have it all figured out, because Icertainly don’t. I like the idea of always learning. Always. If you’re not learning, what makes you want to get up in the morning? Why wake up if you have it all figured out? People who coast are not having any fun. It’s also dangerous. People around you are still working and pushing themselves. If you don’t keep up, it doesn’t matter how advanced you were when the race started—you’re not going to win it.

WHILE TEACHING, I FREQUENTLY brought movies to my classes to share with my students, because they were important to me. They always inspire me, and maybe you’ll enjoy them, too!

THE FIVE BEST MOVIES ABOUT FASHION

1. Blow-up(1966)

Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 murder mystery is a spellbinding masterpiece set in London in the 1960s, which I consider probably the most innovative and provocative fashion era of all time. David Hemmings plays a photographer whose career is loosely based on that of David Bailey (an early leader in the field of fashion photography), and the stunning Vanessa Redgrave plays his muse.

2. Funny Face(1957)

This frolicking romp stars Audrey Hepburn as the ugly duckling turned swan, Fred Astaire as a fashion photographer loosely based on Richard Avedon, and the fabulous Kay Thompson as a fashion editor loosely based on Diana Vreeland. It’s a great behind-the-scenes look at fashion magazines. Think The Devil Wears Pradaset to music. And after seeing this movie, you’ll always “think pink!”

3. The Women(1939)

This wickedly funny film paints a portrait of 1930s society women whose lives revolve around beauty treatments, luncheons, fashion shows, and one another’s men. The script is laugh-out-loud funny, and the entire film is a great escape, especially when I’m feeling bitchy and want to have a cathartic experience. (But please don’t waste your time with the 2008 remake. It’s sad.)

4. The Devil Wears Prada(2006)

In spite of my adoration of Meryl Streep, I wasn’t enthusiastic about seeing this film. I thought, Will this movie really portray the fashion industry accurately?In order to make myself go, I made a date with Grace Mirabella, the former editor in chief of Vogue,and Jade Hobson, another fabulous fashion editor. Then I started fretting about whether or not the film would make Grace uncomfortable. Meryl Streep’s character is loosely based on Anna Wintour, who replaced Grace at Vogueunder dreadful circumstances. Grace was as still as a statue during the movie, which made me nervous. When the lights came up at the end, I slowly turned to Grace, whose eyes met mine. I gulped. She broke into a wide grin and shouted, “I loved it!”

5. The September Issue(2009)

I was dubious about what this documentary could really offer up about the inner workings of Vogue,especially when it comes to that sphinx-without-a-riddle, Anna Wintour. Wow, was I impressed. R. J. Cutler’s documentary is brilliant: it’s insightful, funny, ironic, drama-filled, and a freak show like none other.

THE FIVE BEST FEMALE STAR TURNS

1. Judy Garland in A Star Is Born(1954)

In this bigger-than-life movie about the rise of a nobody Hollywood extra into the motion-picture industry’s biggest star, Garland becomes seduced by a star (James Mason) who’s a self-centered cad. Still, she marries him and stays by his side until … the end. Speaking of, there are few movies for which I’ve experienced the kind of welling of emotion that’s triggered by seven words spoken by Garland: “Hello, everybody. This is … Mrs. … Norman … Maine.”

2. Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl(1968)

In this amazing musical, Barbra Streisand handles drama, comedy, musical numbers, and tear-jerking sentiment with equal aplomb, and she does it all better than any actress before or since.

3.Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire(1951)

In Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play, Blanche DuBois says: “Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos. That is the way we all see each other in life.” Ever the method actor, Marlon Brando reportedly stayed in his brutish character even during filming breaks, much to the disgust of Vivien Leigh. When she called Stanley an “animal,” it must have come from the bottom of her heart.

4. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame(1958)

Rosalind Russell was born to play the madcap Mame in this story of an eccentric, fast-living society woman of the 1920s determined to “open doors” for her adoring nephew. Mame exposes him to everything from bootleg gin to oddball characters—all the while doing battle with her nephew’s ultra-conservative trustee, who is equally determined that the boy’s life remain free of “certain influences.”

5. Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest(1981)

This movie is my number one guilty pleasure when it comes to movies. Yes, it is camp, but like they say, they don’t make ’em like this anymore. A virtual facial contortionist, Dunaway plays up every scene and mood change. She’s also able to act the part of the Hollywood diva very well. And this movie is full of diva behavior. Take, for example, the scene in which she chops up the rose garden, dressed in haute couture, the side of her face bruised and cut. She mutters “box office poison,” and makes her unfortunate small children haul away the wreckage. Plus, she wields an axe like nobody’s business.

FIVE MOVIES I JUST LOVE

1. Valley of the Dolls(1967)

“So you come crawling back to Broadway …” That’s just one of a myriad of oh-so-quotable lines from the cult classic. The acting is pure cheese, and the songs are god-awful, but I could easily watch it every day.

2. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966)

I think about Edward Albee’s vituperative play about marital warfare every time I go to a really tense dinner party.

3. Elizabeth(1998)

This brimming goblet of religious tension, political conspiracy, sex, violence, and war is heaven, thanks to Cate Blanchett’s performance as the naïve and vibrant princess who becomes the stubborn and knowing queen. The cold, dark sets paired with the lush costuming show the golden age of England’s monarchy emerging from the Middle Ages.

4. The Queen(2006)

Yes, I have a crush on Helen Mirren. She does an amazing job in this film, making Queen Elizabeth II (as I mentioned, a dead ringer for my mother!) seem downright human.

5. Keeper of the Flame(1942)

Katharine Hepburn plays a national hero’s widow. She has a great big secret that’s brought out by interviews with a biographer (Spencer Tracy). This is one of my favorite wartime movies.

While we’re at it, here are a few more movies that I find inspiring: The Draughtsman’s Contract, The Go-Between, Prospero’s Books, Ryan’s Daughter, Two for the Road, Women in Love, Waterloo Bridge (1940), Portrait of Jennie, Elephant Walk, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Philadelphia Story, Darling(1965), Meet Me in St. Louis, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Bedazzled(1967), all the James Bond movies, The Thomas Crown Affair(1968 and 1999), The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Nicholas and Alexandria, War and Peace(1956), Giant, Gone with the Wind, L’avventura, Mon Oncle Antoine, Zabriskie Point, Black Orpheus(1959), Orpheus(1949), and Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.

Any one of these films could inspire a dozen collections.

I also love the worlds created by the writers Thomas Mann, James Agee, Herman Melville, T. S. Eliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, E. F. Benson, Carson McCullers, and Gertrude Stein, to name a tiny fraction of the authors on my bookshelf.

You can see why I was mad at my students who told me they couldn’t find inspiration! I don’t care if your list leans away from campy cult classics and period dramas and toward, say, zombie movies or bromances or video games. Any genre, any film, any book can be the jumping-off point for amazing creative work. As long as we have Netflix, Turner Classic Movies, Amazon, YouTube, and bookstores, there is no excuse ever to lack inspiration.