Photo: Maiyet

Now that Paris fashion week has come and gone it’s time to take a closer look at a few of its under-the-radar highlights. Two brands, Gabrielle Greiss and Maiyet, have the fashion pack particularly excited. Gabrielle Greiss, formerly creative director at Sonia Rykiel, has started her own label that’s filled with sweet, haphazardly layered dresses that are like t-shirts gone glam. The combination of her feminine aesthetic and neutral palette will appeal to the Paris-obsessed girl who dreams of both Isabel Marant and Carven. This collection, her first, is comprised of just twenty dresses. Also showing for the first time was Maiyet, a label that while designed with fashion domination in mind, is manufactured by specialized artisans in Africa, South America, and Asia—and founded by a human rights lawyer. Though a design team leads the collections (or collection, at this point) the clothes are produced by an international force of skilled artisans who’ve developed brilliantly embroidered dresses and well-tailored trenches. Paul van Zyl, the lawyer, co-founded the line with Kirsty Caylor, who developed Gap’s Product (RED) collection before working at Band of Outsiders and the two are hoping to “see a virtuous circle of prosperity, investment and employment, and a return to the artisanal roots of luxury.” Look for both collections in stores this spring.