Tim Gunn on Gretchen, Mondo, vote-swaying, and crack-smoking 'Project Runway' judges

Tim Gunn is so not Team Gretchen. On Tuesday, Wordsmoker reported that during a recent Kate Spade event in Pennsylvania, the outspoken "Project Runway" co-host said he had wanted fan favorite Mondo Guerra to triumph over Season 8's controversial winner, Gretchen Jones. He said that he was "still speechless" about the decision, then added: "Nobody's gonna be happy that I'm giving you this back story, but I can't help myself!"

Gunn went on to say that when the vote was split, with judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia pulling for Gretchen while Heidi Klum and guest judge Jessica Simpson rallied for Mondo, Klum tried to get him to change Kors' and Garcia's minds. “I went with Heidi, and we made quite a case for our candidate,” he said. "Nobody mentioned Jessica Simpson," he said, earning laughs from the crowd.

Gunn also addressed other recent quips he'd made about the judges here in The Times: "I've been calling them a bunch of crack-smokers," he said. When Klum agreed with Gunn that Mondo should win, Gunn said, she asked, “Can you remove my crack-smoker badge?” To which he replied, “Yes, because Nina and Michael are smoking enough for all of us."

Gunn's final word on the winner? He paraphrased a fan, who he insisted said it best: "Mondo will do fabulously anyway, and Gretchen really needs the money." Ouch.

-- Melissa Maerz

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Comments

[MisterHippity]

Melissa, thanks for crediting my Wordsmoker piece on this story!

[xyz]

"One day you're in, the next day you're... OUT." Wise words Heidi. Gretchen maybe in today, but she will be out tomorrow. Who would wear those "granny panty" shorts?

Last year they criticised Emilio for being too commercial -- 'his collection could go straight to ready to wear.' I, being an Emilio fan, was disappointed and thought, okay, this programme is about what is seen on the RUNWAY -- high end fashion (as were Seth Aaron's pieces and Mondo's pieces). And this year, after winning 3 challenges in a row and being praised for his cutting edge style, he is thrown under the bus by Nina and Michael for not being commercial enough. Huh? Talk about mixed messages.

I think that it is time Heidi says auf wiedersehen to Michael Korrs and Nina Garcia. It's time to have some new judges, otherwise the show is not worth watching.

[O-town]

Sorry, but I think Mr. Kors and Ms. Garcia were right. While not really dismissing Mondo's collection, they indicated that Gretchen's stuff could be enjoyed by a wider market. Mondo's? Not so much. Talented guy but his market would be limited. You people who insist that he should have won would drive his collections straight to Hot Topic stores. They were costumy but wonderfully done. As for this article, I'm a little embarrassed by it. It's stylish when you're able to maintain a level of decorum, even if you disagree with a decision. I think Tim wants a judges chair. I say, give it to him, so we don't have him walking around like a hot mess pissed off about a decision he wasn't a part of.

[sugardaisy]

Yeah they must have been smoking crack. Mondo was so clearly the winner it was ridiculous. When there is a tie between the judges such as there was this time, TIM should be the tie-breaking vote!

[itsofacto]

Actually H&M ..the largest department store in Europe and with chains in North America..carries tons of clothing that looks just like what Mondo would design.
He could totally sell his stuff there and people would buy it, just like he sold out online when his finale collection was up for sale. :)

[Pam]

My son and I couldn't believe it when Gretchen won. Neither of us liked her clothes. We had picked Mondo to win from the beginning. I'm not sure that commercial viability should be the judging criteria for this show, I think it would be excellence of design. Mondo is extremely talented, in the same way that Christian Siriano was. I'm not so sure that Christian's clothes would have appealed to the average consumer either, it was definitely haute couture. I would rather see haute couture on Project Runway, not clothes that you could find in K-Mart. Congratulations to Mondo for his fabulous eye-catching designs.

[CC]

I totally agree with Tim Mondo clearly is a better designer. Nina and Michael were off the mark with this one. Nina appeared to dislike Mondo for some reason. I was so upset I may not watch project runway next season if there is one.

[Mondo Fan]

Both candidates have talent but Mondo's work spoke of a clearly defined cutting edge vision where Wretchen seemed to be just doing what is already hanging in the malls.

I think Kors, the mighty Orangaide God who always looks as if he smells something bad, rewarded the arrogant Wretchen for listening to his suggestions to glam up her granny brown pants and old hippy caftans. Nice work, Kors. I think of you every time I go to Marshalls or TJ Max.

Mondo stuck to his guns and kept the amazing bubble dress unaltered despite Kors directive. To call Mondo's clothing as "too junior" was as laughable as Casanova's designs as too matronly.

Hello, Kors? Consumers of all ages need clothing. No one ever said there was a target demographic in this contest.

I lost all respect for Nina describing Andy's line as "too oriental". That is like calling Baby Phat items as "too ghetto".

It's my opinion that vision in addition to the number of challenge wins should have determined the winner and not who just did what they were told to do.

Kors and Garcia lost credibility with this season. Time for some new judges.

[DA MAYOR]

Mondo was robbed and I'm glad Tim Gunn spoke out. Sometimes a decision is just a bad decision and it doesn't sit well with you. Tim obviously felt that way this time as did most anyone who watched the show. Runways are full of things tht nobody would ever wear because fashion is also an art and Mondo is obviously an exceptional fashion artist but I think women would wear his stuff, too. Gretchen made nice jewelry. And it was clear that for the 1st time, Nina and Michael couldn't get over themselves.(Her Oriental line was a bit tacky although I knew what she meant and he seemed more belligerent than ever.) Maybe it is time for some new blood judge wise.

[Mel]

Tim summed it up perfectly - Gretchen needed the handout, Mondo only needed the boost. Said enough given that all but I think one at the last time I checked of Mondo's final runway looks sold but only one of Gretchen's did.

[ruthie]

As far as Gretchen's collection was concerned...I've eaten more upscale oatmeal.
I may b e the only one, but I loved Andy's clothes and his sense of style throughout the season. His designs are both wearable and fashion forward, so I don't understand why he was immediately dismissed by the judges. I vow to never take this show with more than a grain of salt again.

[bettye198]

Thank you Tim for your honesty. For Gawds sake, its the elephant in the room that Mondo was the winner. We watched eagerly that haute couture would be granted a stay of execution and that Gretchen's line would satisfy only the online groupies. I remember that style when I was in college and now I am an old crone! Even my husband who has no sense of girl fashion agreed with the Mondo vote. We need color and wow, not sleepyhead Santa Fe. As far as the judges go, that was a shocker. I enjoy Michael Kors quips and analogies bc he is spot on. Nina was either hormonal ( pregnancy) or someone whispered in her ear to clearly get marketable for the economically depressed crowd. Mondo you go guy! Gretchen I wish you well but for gawds sake get rid of the pantie look. ugh.

Christian Siriano and Irina - winners of the past have presented rich and dramatic evening wear. I think except for in the running Michael Costello, we have missed that boat in this season.

[cld]

The truth of the matter is these are not the only 2 egomaniacal a-holes Mondo is going to run into in the fashion industry. The best thing he can do is just shake it off and move on. But he was obviously the winner and Nina and Michael chose to sabotage him rather than judge him. Out of protest I've already taken my Michael Kors clothing to Goodwill - where I'm sure Gretchen's clothes will soon join them. I'm also canceling my Harper's Bazaar subscription.

[WhoStoleTimGunn?]

"“I went with Heidi, and we made quite a case for our candidate,” he said."

Despite his emergency stint as a guest judge a while back, Tim has always made it abundantly clear that he believes the roles of judge and mentor should not be mixed. And now he is engaging in backdoor politicking of the judges? He's always been known for his integrity, and now, unbeknownst to the contestants or the viewing public, he's campaigning for someone. That's just shocking to me.

[paul]

This wasn't just a bad decision. The backlash that is STILL going on is testimony to just how blatantly wrong a decision it was. And it was a petty display by Kors and Garcia, who seemed jealous of Mondo's talent, and angry that he did not follow their instructions.

Gretchen is already angling for an internship with Kors. I guess that makes her America's Next Great Fashion Intern.

[Jose Gomez]

Read Nina did not like Mondo for some reason. Its not that. Its because both are Hispanic and Hispanics seem not to want to let other Hispanics advance. She knew he was good and the winner and she could not stand another Hispanic to shine. Shame on you Nina I lost respect for you. You should root for your own race or change your last name to Smith!!!! If Mondo sucked then I would be cool with it but he did not. Grethens work was ok but not enough to win!!!!! Mondo you were robbed

[Morgaine Chya]

The reason Nina Garcia, editor for Marie Claire magazine, was so red-hot for Gretchen is because she chose her design in one of the earlier challenges which was a "Marie Claire Competition."

Gretchen won that episode's challenge for her design which was a totally 15-years-ago blue, very boring jumpsuit. By winning that challenge, Gretchen 's design was featured on a Times Square bill-board, and her final runway collection will be featured in a Marie Claire magazine spread.

About 98% of the PR fans are outraged over the judging debacle. Tim Gunn is speaking out about it. The boards are full of outraged posts from fans.

So, what does Marie CLaire do after fans voice their outrage?

They produce a film called "10 things you don't know about Gretchen," which is not only an attempt to diminish the outrage felt by fans, but attempts to rewrite history when we can still see it as it was broadcast originally by watching their recorded copy. If you haven't seen it, it's on Lifetime and on bloggingprojectrunway.com

And as a reply to "O-Town," who claims Nina Garcia and Michael Kors did not diminish Mondo's collection but preferred Gretchens--that is a downright lie. They made up stuff to criticize him about when they couldn't find anything.

The best part was when NG and MK kept saying Mondo's designs were "too juvenile." When is the last time either of them talked to a teenage girl? I talk to them all the time in my line of work, and it would be a very hard sell to get them to wear his designs. It would only be if most other teenage girls, or enough of the popular girls, were wearing it. In either case, if most of the teenage girls were wearing it, Mondo would be long past that and designing something new and "fashion forward."

Ms. O-Town, let me know when you start wearing Gretchen's gray knitted granny-panties and huge brown load diapers. She featured the granny-panties in three designs. Surely, they are what is IT and in style right now.

So, please, go pull on those granny-panties or loaded diaper, and show us how stylin' you are.

Just don't go into a store that sells incontinence supplies. They'll think you are one of their customers.

That's what Gretchen's collection should have been called: "Incontinence Couture."

[Mel]

WhoStoleTimGunn? to answer your question, while Tim does try to stay out of the way in this area, there was a serious question in regard to the decisions being made.

One has to remember, he is one of the two producers of the show, and it says in the disclaimer that they reserve the right to interfere with the decisions.

Does this make it right? - no, but I think until we saw Gretchen get a bye in this case with her designs (even saying she was sick of the challenges as an excuse - which I'd kicked her out for over April), he was going to respect the judge's decisions. Simply put, there was no logical way Gretchen should've won a DESIGN contest. She did win the ready to wear contest, but her designs are already out there. They're not new or inventive.

[obscene ruling]

Talk about saying no to the Beatles, history will include Nina and Michael with the same boneheads.
Nina needs to have her own voice and not follow her bosses' opinion, who said she preferred Gretchen's clothes.
It seems the decision was for the best Marie Claire designer, not the best designer.

[WhoStoleTimGunn?]

"One has to remember, he is one of the two producers of the show . . ."

Oy, Mel! Where on earth did you get THAT idea? First off, there are a lot more than two producers. Secondly, Tim is NOT one of them, not in any way, shape or form. From the PR website: "Project Runway is produced by The Weinstein Company, Miramax Films, Bunim-Murray Productions and Full Picture. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), Jon Murray and Sara Rea of Bunim-Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture. Barbara Schneeweiss oversees the production on behalf of The Weinstein Company." Where do you "Tim Gunn" on that list, Mel?

Whether or not Gretchen should have won is irrelevant to my point, which is that Tim had no business injecting himself into the judging process.

Let's face it. The same people who are excusing him for it now would have been heading up a lynch party if he'd campaigned for Gretchen.