Vena Cava (Q3610)
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Vena Cava is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Vena Cava |
Vena Cava is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Having recently launched their little-sister Viva Vena line, Vena Cava's Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai now have another outlet for their whimsical prints and flirty frocks, which have driven sales in the past but also cramped creative growth in a certain sense. Finding a contemporary home for those more commercial pieces meant the design duo was able to refocus on making "future heirlooms," and it resulted in a strong lineup. Interestingly enough, Mayock said it reminded her of their debut collection, nearly a decade ago—talk about coming full circle.There was an emphasis on new volumes and "extreme basics," according to Mayock. A snug cropped jacket paired with ultra-wide palazzo pants was a playful take on suiting; and a slim, midi-length pencil skirt with a detachable lapel detail also riffed on the traditional tuxedo. Enveloping, oversize wool coats added a polished finish to several outfits but still had that slightly witchy vibe that is identifiably Vena Cava. Speaking of, they didn't drop pattern completely, and incorporated a mystical collage with seeing-eye motifs into several memorable looks that put their progress this season into perspective.
6 February 2013
Since partnering with global trading group Li & Fung in April, it's taken time for Vena Cava designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock to adjust. But a look at their Spring collection says they have definitely regained their footing. "It's so nice to finally have this kind of backing," Mayock said at her Soho studio. "Now we can execute what we have been wanting to do for years." The VC girls called their latest range Vena Cava Tijuana. They were thinking about their trips to Mexico in the eighties. Mayock recalled seeing a lot of crafts and embroidery around her great aunt's perfume shop there, and the clothes clearly reflected such memories. A colorful striped jacket was the VC take on an army coat, and a long linen-blend dress with chiffon bias-cut to look like fringe was inspired by mariachi singers.The designers showed their signature prints—from a fun corn design to an artsy drawing of an elegant hand—on feminine dresses and skirts. Mixed in with these statement pieces were "not too basic basics," as they called them. Think office-appropriate black pants with pompoms on the front, leather separates with graphic perforation, and mock-vintage Mexican rock band T-shirts. "The clothes are not just meant to look good on an 18-year-old model," Mayock said. "They are for real women to wear every day." That includes the sexy red dress with cut-outs on the neckline. Well, maybe that should be reserved for a special night out instead.
11 September 2012
When it came time to pin down their resort inspiration, Vena Cava designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock literally had visions dancing in their heads. The subjects? Anjelica Huston, Jerry Hall, and Loulou de la Falaise circa their Studio 54 days, with a little Helmut Newton thrown in for good measure. Easy, simple, and louche were the words that the girls used to describe their midi-length wrap skirts, barely-there camisoles, and delicate slipdresses with minimal ruffled detailing. Keeping with the label's modern-vintage aesthetic, the prints here came in all shapes and sizes, from a mini matchstick design to a large-scale bright floral to a spunky "Deco machine" graphic splattered on a range of silky separates. Since rebooting their label with the help of Li & Fung, Buhai and Mayock have opted out of "editorial" looks in favor of simplicity and ease. A smart move on the part of the VC duo, who, in the coming months, will launch their wares exclusively at Barneys.
4 June 2012
Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock have new business partners in Li & Fung (the global trading group that backs Rachel Zoe, among other brands), but the arrangement hasn't altered their approach to their eight-year-old Vena Cava label. Young women familiar with the designers' modern-vintage sensibility will recognize the forties-by-way-of-the-seventies silhouettes—the strong shoulders, the high waists, the maxi lengths. Buhai and Mayock cited 1970's neo noir films, "evenDrive," as inspiration this season, specifically those movies' "sunny facades and dark undertones." Mostly, though, the light won out here. The lineup's most resonant pieces came in a graphic floral print—vibrant yellow and turquoise on a ground of black. And there was optimism, too, in a black crepe tuxedo with big gold studs, the jacket of which featured a zip above the hips. With tails or without, the girl who wears it is practically guaranteed to be the life of the party. Tailoring plays a bigger role than ever in this VC collection, which should serve Buhai and Mayock well given the direction of the season as a whole. Still, it's their way with a little dress that's gotten them this far. For Fall, the standout comes in marigold, with a nipped waist and short sleeves.
8 April 2012
Vena Cava's Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock are among a handful of New York designers not putting on their usual fashion shows this season. Instead, the duo hosted a dinner (see pics here) and invited 12 muses/friends—the actress Nora Zehetner and the Like's Tennessee Thomas included—to model clothes from their Spring lineup. Buhai and Mayock described the collection as a return to their roots, and the dresses and camisole-and-pencil-skirt combos were recognizably Vena Cava: delicate and feminine but not precious, with a vague feel of the forties. It was a definite improvement from the nineties-style looks of last season.Mayock wore a black washed-silk dress with a deep-V neckline suspended from a padded rope collar. Buhai chose a longer, slimmer black knit dress with two thick bands of white piping down its front. There are other evening looks in the large collection, the best of which is a long dress in a (subtly tongue-in-cheek) marijuana print, but the focus now is really on easy-to-wear dresses, "the kind of thing a girl can throw on and go," they explained. Buhai and Mayock took the same cool but no-nonsense approach to their debut handbag collection, which is virtually logo- and hardware-free and retails from $275 to $550.Eight years and 15 collections after graduating from Parsons, the designers explained that they're taking more advice from their team and listening to more feedback from their customers. We think the feedback for Spring will be positive.
5 September 2011
Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock know their fashion history. They've been studying up since the early nineties, when they were middle schoolers with subscriptions toVogueandSassy. For Fall, they looked back at those years and borrowed heavily from its designer big guns: Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan, and Azzedine Alaïa. They even printed an era-appropriate zine with contributions from their fashionable friends and placed them on front-row seats. "It's the other side of grunge, the elegant early nineties," they said backstage of the clothes. For those of you not so well versed in that part of the decade's styles: It was a time when jackets and coats came with big padded shoulders, pants were full and sat at the natural waist, skirts were ice-skater short or long to the ground, and tops were often sliced off at the midriff or accented by daring cutouts.As always, Buhai and Mayock showed off their subtle sense for color. A long silk crepe de chine skirt combined warm blocks of rust, navy, and gray to lovely effect. And no one can whip up an interesting neckline like they can. The square neck of a long silk jersey dress looked particularly sexy. But the cutouts proved to be somewhat tricky, and, apologies to Armani et al., but those early-nineties silhouettes don't look all that flattering to contemporary eyes. A fitted and cropped black leather jacket worn with a navy lace sweatshirt and a cropped pant was the show's most convincing look for the way it treaded lightly on the past.
9 February 2011
It's still early, but we're willing to bet that "classic American sportswear" will be a phrase you'll be hearing almost as often as "How do I get to Lincoln Center?" during this New York fashion week. Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock used it backstage before their show, professing a newfound interest in "practical, matter-of-fact, not too over-styled clothes." That puts their collection of linen shorts suits, ankle-skimming shirtdresses, and "stay-press" flaring trousers squarely at the center of things. These designers have always preferred elegance to edge, but this season, the results looked more effortless, without the superfluous extras that have proven a bit too distracting in the past.Buhai and Mayock know their way around a halter dress. Taking cues from the eighties Memphis design movement, their new ones skim the body in color-blocked shades of khaki, black, and red, or cool tones of blue. But the one that really grabbed your attention came in solid poppy, with an asymmetric shorter-in-front, longer-in-back hem. It looks like minimalism suits Vena Cava.
8 September 2010
Travels and obscure movie references are frequent starting points for Vena Cava's Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock, and their latest effort was no exception. A road trip to Death Valley and the (OK, maybe not quite so obscure, at least in fashion circles) 1970 flickZabriskie Pointinfluenced the dusty orange and yellow palette of their Resort collection, as well as the sweet Southwestern-style prints. An overall-style silk jumpsuit was a standout, as was a seventies-workwear-inspired chambray vest.But the duo's real news was the debut of their lower-priced Viva Vena line as a full-fledged collection. What began this spring as a selection of printed eco-friendly tees has expanded to include stretchy tank dresses, mesh T-shirts, and cropped sweatpants with tribal-printed waistbands, all of which retail for under $200. "We priced it so you don't even have to think about it," Buhai explained. What their fans will be contemplating? How to get their hands on it all.
2 June 2010
The show notes at Vena Cava explained that designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock were inspired by a long weekend they spent in Woodstock last fall, but the clothes on the runway looked more urban than upstate. Backstage, Buhai elaborated, "It's whatwe'dwant to wear in Woodstock." In other words, you can take the Brooklyn hipsters out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the Brooklyn hipsters. In fact, there was plenty here to tempt that demographic, which, from the looks of the vintage stores around town, has been getting more interested in the seventies lately.The duo's familiar shirtdresses were layered over ribbed knit black turtlenecks, waists were high, and hems were long for a Me Decade vibe. A black silk crepe de chine jumpsuit with a corded halter neckline stood out, as did a dress patchworked from shiny gray, lichen, and copper viscose and black micro-lace. A washed gray leather jacket with snaps at the shoulders and a pair of wool cloaks with leather trim indicate Buhai and Mayock are trying to extend their range, but it's the instant-wardrobe-update items—the culotte shorts, cropped sweatshirts, and overall dresses—that will more likely attract buyers. What makes these designers successful is how delicately attuned they remain to what the cool girls want these days.
10 February 2010
Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock are tired of all things ripped, torn, and distressed. "It's nice to see somebody our age dress a little cleaner, with more elegance," Buhai said. To help make their point, they enlisted Tiffany & Co., Persol, and Robert Clergerie for their bangles, shades, and shoes, respectively. For the clothes, they took inspiration from the bright, graphic wall murals of South Africa's Ndebele tribe—but they didn't interpret the theme too literally. There was a mask print on a long chiffon dress, and their signature looped neckline, as seen on a simple black shift dress, was a bit like a tribal collar in stark red and white.The focus instead—with an eye to the economy—was on wearable day pieces. They offered a very cool collarless blazer with matching pants over an orange laser-cut chiffon blouse, a metallic gray cardigan worn with a shoulder-padded tee and high-waisted star-print shorts, and a sash-waist jumpsuit in an acid-wash print (it was subtle, we promise). The collection had a new polish, but Buhai and Mayock haven't completely grown up. As if to prove they haven't lost their Brooklyn street cred, the duo enlisted their pals Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces to play during the show. And they showed a safety-pin camisole that will go over big in Williamsburg.
9 September 2009
The CFDA/VogueFashion Fund runners-up Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai focused on a relaxed "nineties Venice Beach silhouette" for Resort, cutting breezy tops and little skirts in casual fabrics featuring colorful patterns inspired by the South African Ndebele tribe. The emphasis on easy day looks felt new for the duo, and a standout printed spandex body-con dress is destined be a hit on or off the boardwalk.
31 May 2009
"If we were acoustic before, now we're digital," said Sophie Buhai, applying an apt metaphor to the evolution of Vena Cava (which she designs with Lisa Mayock) from pretty and print-strewn to sparkly and somewhat darkly punkish. As if to drive home the point, bedazzling shreds of 30,000 CDs repurposed by the artist Marisa Tesauro filled the inside of a triangular show platform that supported 21 models in specially created Via Spiga shoes and clothes that were all grown-up sexy.Titled "Crystalarium," the collection was inspired by a neighbor of Mayock's who worked as a "gem huntress" in the eighties. Back were the tough leggings and the signature long dresses with cutouts showing slices of skin; new this season were motorcycle jackets, exposed zippers, studs, holographic sequins, and metallic fringe.Holographic sequins might sound like a chancy move, but these girls have never played with fool's gold. The CFDA/VogueFashion Fund award runners-up for 2008 have great sell-through with their "wearable novelties," as they phrase it, so for Fall they focused on adding "never-seen-before detailing" to familiar silhouettes and staples, making the ordinary quite a bit more extraordinary. There were perhaps fewer surprises than some might have liked, but the show was easy to take a shine to.
13 February 2009
"Egyptomania" is the key to deciphering Vena Cava's latest effort. Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai looked to the King Tut craze that enthralled America during the mummy's world tour in the mid-seventies, resurrecting that decade's sportswear silhouettes, but punctuated them with hieroglyphs and zodiac symbols. The CFDA/VogueFashion Fund finalists demonstrated their superior draping skills once again with several nipped-waist chiffon gowns, while the addition of more structured pieces—a sleeveless power suit with a flawless fit, to give one good example—proved the duo has range. There were shoes, too, taken from their new collaboration with Via Spiga. But it wasn't all about making a serious impression: An allover print on an evening gown turned out to be snippets from an Egyptian glossary of mythology. Kitschy, sure, but it's just the kind of irreverent detail we've come to expect (and love) from these two.
5 September 2008
"We call it celestial sportswear," said Vena Cava designer Sophie Buhai. As it turned out, that was a fairly apt description for Buhai and fellow designer Lisa Mayock's collection—a mix of drawstring silk jumpsuits, slouchy crepe de chine tanks, newly added knitwear basics, and other pieces inspired by the 1974 cult filmSpace Is the Place(you know, the one in which avant-garde jazzman Sun Ra plays a pseudo-Egyptian space age philosopher seeking followers). That would explain the easy seventies sportswear look updated with hieroglyphic prints. In short: just the kind of unforced quirkiness we've come to expect from this talented pair.
12 June 2008
Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai have been readingHollywood Babylon. Inspired by Kenneth Anger's lurid history of scandal, California-style, as well as by the industrial designer Achille Castiglioni, they threw a "fake Hollywood party," placing 30 models among larger-than-life cutout images of Marlene Dietrich, Rudolph Valentino, and—less obviously—Woody Allen.Although Mayock and Buhai said they were attempting to view film noir and MGM-era glamour through a "darker, twisted lens," a light—occasionally slightly silly—mood prevailed. Beer-can print, anyone?.The collection had both thirties polish and seventies languor (with a touch of kitsch—that typewriter print was a bit gimmicky, wasn't it?).Babylon-glamorous were the screen-siren gowns, like a chartreuse number named Ziegfeld. But it was the unexpected menswear styling and the sportier looks—slim trousers, a cropped leather jacket—that really deserved top billing. Those rakish pieces suggested a brand known for lovely dresses in lovely prints has more range than previously suspected.
4 September 2007
According to their program notes, Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai were thinking about gonzo bohemian excess and the hard-living adventurers Hunter S. Thompson and Ernest Hemingway, men whose lifestyles embraced ¿humor, liquor, depression, peyote and red wine, Paris and Big Sur.¿That's not the sort of backstory you hear every day, and it was always going to be a hard concept to pull off, even for a pair of designers who have won a place in the hearts of fashion critics with their quirky charm. And in fact, it was mostly the quirk that was in evidence today. Sheer chiffon tunics and rumpled denim vests were bulked up with cargo pockets, a look unlikely to be embraced by many women. Two awkward dresses—a black flared knit and an olive silk shirtdress—came across as frumpy.It was with simpler looks that the designers regained their footing. A stiff cotton-twill suit, belted at the waist, felt just right, and the tiered silk dresses were fresh, especially the short black number worn under a supple fawn-colored leather jacket. And there was nothing gonzo about the slim column gown that closed the show.
5 February 2007
Vena Cava was one of ten labels with a Spring 2007 show made possible by UPS, which sponsored a showcase for young designers in a special section of the Bryant Park tents. Unlike their fellow "Hub" dwellers, however, Vena Cava designers Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai opted for a presentation over a runway show, with a quirkily conceived setting that echoed the whimsy of their last outing. The four rooms that had been the conceit of their fall show were replaced this season by three lawns, peopled by groups of characters with names like "the daydreamers" and "the misfits." Charming, maybe, but not strictly practical: It's tricky to get a sense of what clothes look like when they're being worn by models lying prone on Astroturf. Nonetheless, there were pretty, wearable offerings, including a mauve dress with fringe details, an evening gown with a deconstructed seam, and a brown leather jacket lined in an original print—a Vena Cava signature. Only a small step forward from last season—most of that in the decorative details—but enough to keep the loyal fans happy.
13 September 2006
Vena Cava's Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai threw a happening house party on Saturday, showing their collection in four themed "rooms" that contained items from the designers' own homes. "Clothes are so personal," Buhai explained. "We wanted to create a relaxed environment where the clothes could be seen worn like they would be in real life." The installation was indeed homey, but the outfits were nothing if not sophisticated.This was a breakthrough collection for the Parsons grads and Ecco Domani winners, who sat out fashion week last season while building their store accounts. Since their 2004 debut, Mayock and Buhai have been refining their aesthetic, which revolves around easy, feminine dresses and tops, often with triangle cut-out necklines, usually in (printed) silks. Fall found them entranced by Biba: A lilac lingonberry-print dress with a button placket nodded toward the cult British label and was appropriately featured in the "Boudoir," where the models wore groovy headscarves and false lashes. The "Withdrawing Room" played host to loose seventies-style pants, and a dressier coat, gold brocade skirt, and pleated tank ensemble. A leather jacket and dresses with Empire waists and appliqué hem inhabited the "Game Room," while gowns were the focus in the more formal "Dining Room."The setup of the show emphasized the idea that the collection had versatility—that it would work as well on a dinner date as a weekend in the country. The most pleasing thing about these clothes, though, was that they were both fresh and familiar—the sort of pieces, in fact, you could easily imagine (and want to find) hanging in your own closet.
4 February 2006