Testing 1, 2, 3

By Cate T. Corcoran
July 25, 2011

Diana Eng is the rare fashion designer who is as comfortable working with conductive wire and electrical circuits as she is with velvet and silk chiffon. Her many high-tech fashion creations include a dress with flowers that bloom, garments that change shape, and a purse that blogs. She was a contestant on "Project Runway" in its second season, won the Yahoo Open Hack Day (where creative geeks come together to build cool stuff) with two others, was an artist in residence at the Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in New York, authored a book on tech fashion, and has helped Victoria’s Secret with R&D.

Her latest ambition is to make high-tech fashion affordable to the masses, and to sell her wares online. Her newest and most accessible collection is a group of laser-cut tops inspired by microscopic images of plant and flower cells and Art Nouveau prints.

“Technology is a means to an end,” she wrote on her blog. “Whether I use technology or not, my products will be special.”

Diana Eng

Diana Eng Laser Top (Photo credit: Ricardo Louis)

The Inside Source: Why the mix of tech and fashion?

Diana Eng: I always liked the fashion designers who are really pushing boundaries—Issey Miyake, Martin Margiela... I’m very inspired by what they’re working on, so I decided I wanted work on similar things. I always had an interest in science and technology, and it seemed like a good combination to make fashion that explored those things.

The Inside Source: What inspired your latest fashion collection, the laser-cut tops?

Diana Eng: I was reading Tina Fey’s Bossypants book, and she was saying she hates dressing up. I don’t like to dress up, either. I wish I could wear t-shirts all the time. That was the inspiration: What type of t-shirt could I wear all the time?

Laser Top (Photo credit: Ricardo Louis)

The Inside Source: Tell us a little bit about your process.

Diana Eng: It’s kind of fun because with these laser lace tees, we had to develop special technology. With the jersey knit material, you can’t stick it in the laser cutter. It stretches and changes shape. It gets burned. Once, some of the fabric caught on fire when we were cutting it. It probably took at least two months of experimenting to get it right. I had the general idea for each design. Most designs I tried didn’t work. Either they fell apart or were distorted. There were a lot of unknowns we had to experiment our way through. One of the poor girls who was helping me had to sit in the laundromat constantly to see if the [tops] were going to be able to be washed OK.

The Inside Source: What tools and equipment do you use?

Diana Eng: I’m in a shared studio space. There’s a 3D printer, a laser cutter, a pad printer for screen printing onto three-dimensional objects, also a large-format digital printer. We have a vinyl cutter and a heat press for the screen printing machine, an industrial sewing machine and a serger.

Diana Eng

Fortune Cookie Purse, a signature Diana Eng item (Photo credit: Douglas Eng)

The Inside Source: What would a perfect day be for you?

Diana Eng: I like having photo shoots. It’s nice being able to see the finished project on a model. The model looks nice, and it’s rewarding at the end of the day to flip through the photos taken.

The Inside Source: What do you do for fun in your time off?

Diana Eng: I used to do ham radio [private, non-commercial radio], but I haven’t had much time recently.

The Inside Source: You mentioned your engagement ring came from eBay.

Diana Eng: Yes, my engagement ring is actually Victorian. It’s neat to look at vintage things on eBay. The ring is opal and rubies.

The Inside Source: Do you shop eBay for supplies or fashion inspiration? Or anything else?

Diana Eng: I recently got a Polaroid ProPack camera. That’s been pretty fun. It’s a professional camera. You buy peel-apart film. I like to look at old teacups, but I don’t ever purchase them because we have a pretty small apartment. I’ll say “Ooh, that’s a cool one” and save it to my tablet so I can look at it later. Also, Russian cigarette cases. They are enamel. They’re really beautiful, but super expensive.

The Inside Source: You could make something with enamel...

Diana Eng: Yes. That is actually one of the research projects I am working on right now.

We channeled Diana Eng and put her favorite eBay searches to the test.

Vintage Tuscan Footed Tea Cup & Saucer

($28.80)

"I like the ones that are really overly frilly looking. Usually they have gold leaf on them. It's a fine line between gaudy and nice," says Eng, who browses for antique styles on eBay.
Victorian Opal Ring

Eng’s engagement ring is a Victorian opal and ruby confection she and her now-husband found on eBay. “We typed in ‘Victorian ring,’” she said.
Samsung Galaxy Tablet

(buy it now price, $499)

Eng received a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (Google I/O Edition) from the Google developer’s conference for her birthday. She uses it to snap a photo, draws directly on the image, and uploads it her blog. Here's a similar version.
Brand New Desktop CO2 Laser Engraver Cutter by Epilog

(buy it now price, $849)

Eng’s studio space boasts an Epilog laser cutter.
Juki Industrial Sewing Machine

(buy it now price, $799)

Eng sews on a Juki industrial sewing machine.
Fashion Geek by Diana Eng Book

(buy it now price, $15.58)

Read Eng’s book, “Fashion Geek,” and design your own high-tech fashion.
HP Large Format Printer

(buy it now price, $1,725)

Eng’s studio mates share a large-format digital printer from Hewlett Packard.
Polaroid ProPack

(buy it now price, $98.99)

Eng’s professional Polaroid is “fun,” and she’s less likely to lose the photos than digital ones, she says.
WWI Imperial Russian Cigarette Case

(buy it now price, $4,900)

Eng likes to window shop Russian enamel cigarette cases online.