Sophie Buhai

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Report: Vena Cava At Risk of Going Under

Vena Cava, the label designed by indie fashion darlings Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock, might shutter, a source tells us. Though the label garnered a cult following among a certain set of Brooklyn girls since its debut in 2004, the loss of a major investor has reportedly put the label at risk of going under. This probably also explain why Vena Cava’s didn’t put on a spring runway show this September as they have in seasons past.

According to a source close to the situation, the label moved out of their Soho headquarters this week and laid off a lot of staff. Vena Cava hasn’t shuttered yet–they’ve moved their offices home–and we hear a deal with TJ Maxx is still in the works. Still, things seem grim, which is sad news to hear about a label we’ve always been fond of.

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Vena Cava to Collaborate With Uniqlo

Vena Cava‘s Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock announced Wednesday at Fashion Group International’s panel on entrepreneurship that they will be collaborating with Uniqlo. It’s a juicy little tidbit of news that we nearly missed because the designers mentioned it so offhandedly (luckily Fashion etc., didn’t and reminded us).

Collaborating with brands is nothing new for Vena Cava. They’ve partnered in the past with Gap, Aqua for Bloomingdale’s and Converse.

The Gap collab was a struggle, Sophie said, because “Vena Cava is not a khaki brand”, and she and Lisa are “pretty far from preppy.” The design duo went on to weigh out the pros and cons of doing collaborations–one the one hand, lower-priced collaborations with big brands are a great way to reach the mass market and a new audience, and bottom line, make money, but they would never want work on a collaboration that wasn’t true to their brand.

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  • NATALIE MATTHEWS
  • Friday, Feb 25, 2011 / 11:34 AM
  • 1 Comment
Fashion Shows

Mayor Bloomberg Talks Fashion’s Night Out While Anna Wintour, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Other CFDA Members Stand There

After living here for a while, you sometimes forget how many amazing people live and work in New York City. When we walked into City Hall for the Fashion’s Night Out kick-off press conference today, we went through security with Lisa Mayock from Vena Cava.

Then, we saw Anna Wintour walking ahead of us and Alex Wang suddenly appeared behind us. A few minutes later Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez walked in. After we were seated inside the press conference room, the following people (in addition to the aforementioned) surrounded the podium: Prabal Gurung, Zac Posen, Phillip Lim, Tracy Reese, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Thakoon Panichgul, Marcus Wainwright from Rag & Bone, Francisco Costa, Vera Wang, Tory Burch, Steven Kolb, Linda Fargo, the Mayor…and after a few moments, we noticed tiny Mary-Kate Olsen peeking her head out behind Marc.

Then, unfortunately, we died and are thus unable to report anything else about Fashion’s Night Out.

Just kidding – sort of.

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People We Like

Going, Going, Green: Advice From Dana Lorenz, Sophie Buhai & More

It’s pretty easy to be green living in New York. Most people don’t have cars, there’s not a lot of space to light, sometimes it’s harder to find not-organic groceries, but when Earth Day rolls around—and when it’s the 40th anniversary of Earth Day—there’s added pressure. A few designers sent us their tips on going [...]

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Vena Cava Will Launch Printed T-Shirt Line, Viva Vena

Vena Cava’s jumping on the t-shirt bandwagon, but Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai may be the first designers to do something different with the wardrobe staple. Instead of another slouchy heathered tee, they’re introducing prints. The line, Viva Vena, debuts at Barneys and Shopbop this fall, and given the girls expert use of print throughout [...]

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People We Like

Save Fashion Must-Haves

Save Fashion returns this week and if today’s Luella news is any indication, there’s still a lot of saving to be done in this fair industry of ours. But what to buy? Here’s advice straight from some of the participants: –”I’d say the one must-have item from VC at Save Fashion is our leather leggings. [...]

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Fashion Shows

Vena Cava: Worth the Confusion

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A Vision in Khaki

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the new CFDA Design Edition khakis at the GAP. Not as much as the white shirts, but still we’re excited. Even better, we just learned that GAP’s Patrick Robinson along with designers Alexander Wang, Albertus Swanepoel, and the Vena Cava girls Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai will all be at the [...]

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