"Project Runway" fashion guru Tim Gunn seems an unlikely candidate for comics cred, but when he stopped by the newsroom recently to chat about tonight's Season 7 premiere of his hit Television series, I made it a point to ask him about that "Models, Inc." comic he appeared in with Iron Man last year. As followers of the MTV Splash Page feed on Twitter learned that day, however, I got more than I bargained for in my comics chat with our fashion-savvy guest.
Don't believe me? Check out his response when I asked him about Spider-Man's costume and whether it should receive a reboot of its own when Sony goes back to the beginning with the movie franchise.
"I'm... I'm hesitating," pondered Gunn.
And lest you think Gunn is in strange waters when it comes to superhero form and function, the fashion guru then offered up a thoughtful response that, well... it impressed the heck out of me.
"For me, the Spider-Man costume is really that — it's a costume," he explained. "Which is not to say I really think Batman could navigate the real world in those clothes. Batman could walk into this room right now and be with us, and we would be able to say, 'Sit down. Have a cup of coffee.'"
"With Spider-Man, I feel that's not going to happen. The goo and the glue and the web and all that stuff comes with him, so he's basically a human spider," said Gunn. "There's not that same ease and grace of greeting."
He went even deeper into his analysis of Spider-Man's famous red-and-blue tights when I brought up a potential suit-reboot — going so far as to compare the necessary blend of form and function required for a suit revamp to the fashion of a certain MTV Woman of the Year.
"My concerns [with Spider-Man's suit] are fashion concerns — not superhero function concerns," he said. "I feel that what the Spider-Man costume allows him to do is profoundly important. I feel that there's not an easy transition for that into fashion."
"If it were a matter of how you'd do that, I think it's a little Lady Gaga-esque," said Gunn. "I think it would be hard to do."
"Project Runway: Season Seven" premieres tonight (January 14).
Think Gunn has the right idea? Impressed by his superhero savvy? Let us know in the comment section or on Twitter!