At first glance there was nothing unique about the party at Pop Lounge in Midtown Manhattan last week. It was a fashion party to celebrate the release of a new book by the designer Diana Eng. The front of the lounge was packed with beautiful people, photographers popping flashbulbs and the smell of cologne. But when you followed Eng to the back room a whole different scene emerged. Suddenly the party chatter was about micro conductors, not Milan, and the smell was an unholy mix of onion rings and unwashed bodies. It was a dichotomy that perfectly captured Eng, a futuristic fusion of geek and chic. Camera crews were on hand from MTV and Popular Science. "I wonder if it's the first time those two companies have covered the same event," said Eng with a smile.
Eng, 27, learned to sew from her grandmother at age six, and to program computers from her father by age eight. As a high school student in Jacksonville, Florida she displayed equal talent in the science fair and the senior fashion show. "But strangely, it wasn't till I got to college that I put my passions together," says Eng. Her first creation was a dress that could shift its shape and color, a fantasy familiar to anyone stuck at a party where someone is wearing your outfit, only they look better in it. Now Eng has written a book, Fashion Geek, which lays out step-by-step instructions for creating her techno fashions.
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