Project Runway's Tim Gunn

High-profile New Zealand fashion designer Sean Kelly is launching his own fashion label in New York this year, and he thanks American TV show host Tim Gunn for much of his success

Sean won Project Runway a couple of years ago, and the big prize helped propel him up the fashion ladder.

Tim Gunn isn't a designer, judge or model - he's a kindly figure in a viciously competitive industry working as a mentor to the designers.

He's also a pro-hemp and anti-fur activist who's not afraid to criticise aspects of the fashion industry.

Lynn Freeman spoke to Tim Gunn on a fuzzy phone line, firstly about his on-going mentoring of Sean Kelly: