GenArt Alumni Vena Cava Toasted at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont

“It all comes back to Sophie,” said Busy Phillipps poolside at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Phillipps is of course referring to Vena Cava co-designer, Sophie Buhai, (along with Lisa Mayock) and the friends and fans who turned out last night in her honor, including Phillipps, Malin Akerman, Sophia Bush, Natasha Lyonne, Clea Duvall, and former Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis—all sporting Vena Cava. A longtime fan of the label, Phillipps and the designer finally crossed paths in their two-degrees-of-separation world when mutual friend Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear introduced them. “We met each other at one of their shows many years ago, but I had bought their clothes prior to meeting Sophie and Lisa," said the Freaks and Geeks actress. I feel like that happens a lot

in this industry. You’re a fan of someone’s work, you admire them, and then you get to meet or work with them.”  




The sentiment echoed among the many actresses, musicians, and Hollywood It Girls in attendance. Bush explained her attraction to the line as being “the cut of their clothes.” She continued, “I’m so enthralled by the lines and they way their clothes fit women’s bodies.” Phillipps agreed, adding, “I didn’t need to alter anything, and I always alter my clothes. But it’s also something you can wear in Brooklyn with your worn-in booties, and you can wear in Los Angeles with your flip-flops or cute high heels and a clutch. It’s this incredible balance between both coasts.”

During the event, all guests made a special jaunt from Chateau Marmont’s infamous Bungalow 1 to lounge poolside for a performance by St. Vincent. The event—which reached capacity within the first hour and never relented—was first proposed by GenArt, who sought out Vena Cava designers during their early days to participate in their GenArt Fresh Faces in Fashion program and wanted to toasts their alumni’s success with both opening west coast offices and the label’s fall/winter 2012 collection launching at Barneys New York today.

The design duo is known for hosting dinner parties, creating art installations, and participating in the making of a horror film, in lieu of having traditional runway shows. They explained what’s behind their most recent creation. “The collection was inspired by film noir. We were watching a lot of '70s film noir, like Chinatown, Taxi Driver and The Long Goodbye…movies with really strong female characters, such as Faye Dunaway, Anjelica Huston, and Charlotte Rampling,” said Buhai. Looking out over the crowd, she continued, “And so, if you can have a party anywhere in L.A., it makes sense to do it somewhere with so much Hollywood nostalgia, because the collection is inspired by so much of that.”