It’s always tough out there for emerging designers, and the current retail climate just makes it harder. But that doesn’t have CFDA fashion fund finalists Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock down. The Vena Cava designers have actually found reassurance in recession shopping patterns.

“The feedback we’re getting from stores is that the novelty items are continuing to sell really well–our custom prints and the pieces with decorative hardware,” Mayock said. “What I take from that is, let’s keep pushing the signature Vena Cava look, because apparently price is less of an issue when there’s an urgency to the clothes, a specialness.”

As for the CFDA awards, the duo seems to have a similar laid-back yet focused approach.

“I really loved working on the stop-motion video we made for our initial application,” Buhai said. “Not only was it fun to collaborate with Arden Wohl, but making that video forced us to distill the whole history and philosophy of Vena Cava into three minutes. That was a good challenge.”

So, what would they do with the prize money?

“It would be amazing to have an in-house sample sewer,” Mayock said. “We’ve transferred a lot of our production out of the country, so the turnaround time on samples has been a real drag on the creative process.”

Buhai says they’d also like a business advisor to help take their company to the next level.

Oh, and they need new office chairs.

[Source]