I am beyond excited to announce my new ready-to-wear collection, M2057 by Maria Pinto, now exclusively available for pre-order at Kickstarter.

This collection is very personal to me, since it came about from my conversations with women about what they need in their closets—beautiful, versatile items that can keep up with their lives and offer a great value. M2057 is for the modern woman on-the-go who wants to take her look from day to night, show off her own personality and style, and feel confident and gorgeous.

The M2057 look is inspired by urban architecture and design, where the industrial meets the elegant. But it’s also about form meeting function—the fabrics I used have a high-tech feel but are incredibly soft on the skin and lend themselves to unique but wearable silhouettes. They’re also machine washable and travel friendly. It’s all about unique but effortless style, so there’s a dress for every body type and personality. Think of these pieces as blank canvases on which you can express your own sense of self.

The really exciting element to M2057 is that I’m launching it through Kickstarter, rather than traditional retail. On Kickstarter, customers can pre-order garments, which will then be produced upon the completion of a successful Kickstarter campaign.

In case you’re not familiar, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding website where anyone can pitch an idea for a new business and ask for donations from the online audience in order to get the business off the ground. People who donate, or “backers,” have a selection of levels at which they can donate in exchange for corresponding backer gifts. If a campaign reaches its stated monetary goal in a chosen time period, it’s funded and moves forward with production; if not, the campaign ends and no money is collected.

I decided to launch M2057 on Kickstarter because it gives me more immediate feedback with my customers and it’s an opportunity to build a community that can participate in future collections. Only ordered garments get produced, which helps me avoid waste, reduce overhead, and pass value on to my customers. I’m interested in the nexus of fashion and technology, and I think this could be a cool evolution in the fashion industry.

Backers for M2057 by Maria Pinto will have the opportunity to choose among all the pieces in the collection, as well as bundled packages, and, at the highest levels, some special experiences with me, including spending a day with me in my studio or co-hosting a fashion party with me at one of my favorite Chicago restaurants, Sepia.

M2057 backers will also have a chance to purchase dresses at a special Kickstarter price of $250 (regular: $275), and find garments in an exclusive “Kickstarter Red,” a brilliant scarlet shade I’ll retire once the campaign ends.

Learn more about Kickstarter and how to purchase from the M2057 collection.

To pre-order M2057 (estimated delivery: March 2014), please visit my Kickstarter page. I hope you like what you see, and thank you for your support!