Project Runway's Tim Gunn

As the on-air mentor of Bravo's Project Runway, style expert Tim Gunn is no stranger to the fashion industry. Tim talks with Nate about his passion for fashion and how he's enjoying life after 50.

Tim is the former chair of fashion design at Parsons The New School for Design and chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne. In order to succeed in the fashion world, he says a die-hard mentality is essential. "There are certain things that I assume about people wanting to go into this industry—that they are talented, ambitious and driven," he says. "But the question is—how driven are you? Do you have an unrelenting passion for [design]? Because that's the only way you are going to make it." He says budding designers have to have the tenacity and drive to bounce back when they are shot down and must be able to battle the competition.

Tim says his days teaching design students at Parsons brought him much inspiration. "I'm very proud of the fact that while at Parsons, the education that we were giving the students was about the real world," he says. "I'm proud of the fact that we looked at fashion design through a lens of commerce, which is something that I believe is very American."

Since his transition from Parsons to his current job at Liz Claiborne, Tim says he has begun a whole new life for himself and is enjoying every moment. "I have a whole new chapter in my life that is simply phenomenal," he says. To think that you can have a whole new generation of your life happen after you turn 50 and have it be the most fun you've ever had ever, its really invigorating and inspiring and quite surreal."