I wandered among the attendees, and as Renee had described in her report from Washington, there was a diverse group of about 60 people, ranging in age from a 3 year old child to my 81 year old mother. Most people were between their 20s and 40s. I expected a lot of women with either their friends, or like me, with their mothers. I was surprised to see how many husbands took time off from work to come with their wives to the signing, not because they were accompanying them, but because they, too were fans.
Terri and Kevin had met Jane and her husband in line. I spoke with all four of them and asked the men what it was about the show that interested them. I fully expected them to say, Heidi Klum, but no, the two men were both taken with Tim's wit, intelligence and his direct, but supportive nature. I also met Diane and Allan. Both are retired and equally are fans of the show. Allan loves the pressure the challenges place on the designers. Diane is fascinated with the end results, and loves Tim. Jenny was there with three copies of Tim and Kate's book, one for herself, one for her mother who is also a fan and who didn't know that Jenny was getting a copy signed for her as a birthday present, and one for a friend.
Then we heard "the voice!" Everyone turned and started applauding as Tim
and Kate walked by and were whisked into the auditorium for their interview.
About ten minutes later we were let in to take our seats. Tim and Kate were up on a stage, sitting in director's chairs with handheld microphones. He of course was impeccably dressed in a navy jacket and vest, white shirt and jeans. He is stunningly good looking in person. Kate was wearing an "up to the minute" navy cotton shirt dress. Kate later joked that the navy was their "summer color," a departure from their mutual proclivity toward black!
Tim started with some opening remarks that covered why the book is entitled,
"Quality, Taste & Style." He said that a former Dean at Parsons, who had a distinctive point of view, and he were having a discussion about what constituted good design. Tim remarked that it had to have quality, taste and style. This Dean was repulsed by Tim's remark, stating that "quality and style" are elitist and exclusionary terms and "taste" is politically incorrect. He wanted Tim never again to use those terms, and certainly not in the Dean's presence. Tim's reaction? "You Philistine!" (Can't you just hear him say that?) Tim at the time was working at Parsons' Greenwich Village location ("Headquarters," as it were). When he moved uptown to the Fashion Department's location at 7th Avenue and 40th Street, away from
the pin-headed Dean (my term, not his), he reinstated the use of those terms with almost mantra-like frequency. When the opportunity came about to write the book, there could only be one title.
During the Q&A we learned a little more about Tim, that his entrée into a love of design was through playing with legos as a child and young teen, loving to build things, take apart things and build again. His epiphany as a designer came as a result of a conversation with a different Dean at Parsons, Frank Rizzo, who discerned the difference between fine art and design. He recounted that Rizzo said that fine artists have only themselves as clients and create their own problems to solve, where designers must solve a client's problem by embracing it as their own and work within significant constraints of time, cost, and client satisfaction. Tim
came fully to appreciate then the challenge of design and its importance in life. He also said he fully appreciates and respects design education in the US as compared to that in Europe. US design education is conducted through the lens of commercialism. To underscore the importance of the commercial aspect of design, he noted that fashion design is the third largest industry in New York City after Financial Services and Healthcare.
We also learned that Kate was in Tim's office when he first got the call from the Bravo producers to do the show. It was she who encouraged Tim to Google their names to see if these people were whack jobs or had, as Tim said, "a seriousness of purpose." It was Kate's encouragement that caused Tim to pursue this. Tim had a very significant impact on how the show was to unfold in that he insisted to the producers that the designers do their own pattern-making and sewing, otherwise he honestly thought there would be no audience (I think he would have been right). As he said, if Heidi, Michael and Nina didn't like an outfit, and the designer said that the seamstress screwed it up, who would Heidi have to auf? That got a laugh.
Actually, Tim got many laughs. After that Tim's role on the show actually became a necessity. Without it, how would the designers interact with each other? They'd each be concentrating on their own designs and a show that merely filmed people sewing would not have gone anywhere. Tim's engagement with them is the show (my characterization).
We learned some things about Kate. She's originally from Los Angeles and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She got to New York to attend collegeat Sarah Lawrence, which is in Bronxville in Westchester County. Her interest in fashion emanated from her mother's job as the head of PR for Bullock's Department Store, a California-based chain that was taken over by Macy's many years ago. It certainly wasn't her major: French literature. (She actually understands all the French phrases Tim uses!) She explained that she got to Parsons by simply applying for the job. She said that she was so taken by Tim during the interview that she didn't care about
whether she was hired, she just wanted to go out for margaritas with him after,
and its clear that the two have very good chemistry together, are close friends,
who became closer through writing the book, and each depends on the other. We also learned that of the two of them it was Tim who was undisciplined in writing the book, not getting his work done on time. Can you believe that?
Finally, we can all exhale. The guy's just like us! However, I've read the book and disciplined or not, he did not disappoint. It’s a wonderful book.
Tim noted, that purposely, there are no pictures in it because its not a "prescription book"...i.e. wear this, you'll look like the picture. The book makes one think about one's self. And that's what Tim does best..he makes people think! God bless him.
Kate was then asked what her reaction was when Tim sat her down and told her that he was leaving Parsons, and lo and behold, Tim had not kept his own counsel about this matter. Again, Kate was in Tim's office when Liz Claiborne's CEO, Bill McComb called Tim to meet. Tim and Kate thought it might be over a project that Parsons was pursuing with the Claiborne Company at the time. When Tim came back after that meeting he told Kate what had happened. It was she who really helped Tim reach the decision to take McComb's offer and leave Parsons, and he told her that for the first time in front of us. She called him her best friend and he told her that she
can't ever leave him. It was clear that both of them were on the verge of tearing up when Tim cracked a joke and got both of them back on track. Kate then said that being without Tim is as bad as she thought it would be, but they speak daily. Kate is Tim's secret weapon!
With the Q&A over we lined up for the book signing. It was not a rushed affair and Tim and Kate spoke with each person. One three year old brought his mother, and Tim was as gracious to the child as he was to the Mom. I was waiting in line with a man who had taken the afternoon off from work to bring his teenage daughter to the signing, who is a huge fan of the show. He turned to me and said this was important to her and he wanted to do it for her. I asked him if he watched the show and he said he did when he could. His daughter wants to move to New York and go to Parsons. With a dad like that I'm sure she'll make it.
Finally, it was my turn. First, Kate signed my copy of the book and we chatted about Westchester County because I had lived there, too. Then, I got to Tim and as he was signing I thanked him for waving the flag for those of us over 50 and showing that we can still do great things. He said that he thinks its great that all of this happened to him after 50 and said he would never want to go back. I also said that I was the field reporter for BPR and his first comment was to please say hello to Laura K. So Laura, Tim says hello. [Ed. note: "Hi Tim!"] I said that Laura had asked me to get a picture of Tim and Kate together, with which they were pleased to comply, except Kate asked me to get in the picture, too. I protested (as Laura wanted a picture of the two of them, not the three of us...and I wanted to be very obedient) that I was camera shy. Tim then said, "So am I, I hate having my picture
taken...get over here!" When Tim speaks...we should all listen.
I agree with Kate, after meeting both of them, my immediate thought was that I would have loved to have had them both to my house for dinner. The invitation stands...
Laura, thanks for asking me to be the field reporter for BPR for this event.
It was a lot of fun. And my Mom? She's now diehard!
Love,
Roz xxoo
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