Thursday, April 05, 2007

Breakfast with Tim Gunn

I had a hard time getting the kids up on Sunday. "Come on, breakfast with Tim at 7:30!" I said brightly. Dan wouldn't budge. Kaitlin said, "I don't feel very well." (Two margaritas the night before....) I said, "Well, maybe a cup of coffee will help."

We went down to the restaurant and ordered some coffee and juice. Tim arrived freshly shaven and smelling like soap in his trademark black suit. We ordered eggs and agreed that it would be okay to talk with our mouths full.

I asked how the turnout was for the auditions and he said that the numbers were about the same as the previous year. The big difference was that there were hardly any students trying out. (This is a good thing.) He mentioned a few notable hopefuls like the young woman in full Renaissance Faire mode. (Don't these folks read BPR???) Hopefully we will see these in the Road to the Runway episode.

After a brief discussion about our little April Fool's joke I got into "interview" mode. The first topic was Tim's book. I asked about Kate Moloney, the co-author. She is Tim's Assistant Chair at Parsons. She has been in this position for about four years. As Tim was writing his "Tim's Take" for the Bravo website he realized that he needed a second opinion and he asked her to be his editor. She did such a wonderful job that he naturally asked for her help on the book. I asked if he invited her to Liz Claiborne and he said no. However, he did bring another Assistant with him (Marsha Tonkins) and he wanted to leave Parsons with experienced leadership in the Fashion Department. He asked if I had seen the book yet (I hadn't, but I have a copy now.) There are cartoon drawings of he and Kate that are just adorable.

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