If you are a fashionista and have lived in Chicago for any amount of time, most likely you have seen or heard about the Chicago designer Maria Pinto.

She is one of our city’s few pedigreed fashion designers and has even had the privilege of having our first lady, Michelle Obama, don her pieces on several occasions. For various reasons, Maria shuttered her business in 2010 and stepped away from designing, which was a sad occasion for the many loyal followers of her line and for the fashion community in Chicago.

Fortunately, she is back with a new line of very well priced, versatile and flattering pieces that she is trying to produce with the help of Kickstarter. One of my favorite pieces from the lineup is this beautifully draped top, the $250 Gia, which can be worn as a mini-dress or tunic.

It’s a great piece for travel—the fabric doesn’t wrinkle—and it looks great either with or without a belt. And I love that for a very reasonable amount of money, I’m not just buying a great top, I’m also helping a well-deserving designer get back in the game.

Heiji Choy Black has many loves, but fashion is first and foremost. She is chronically searching for the new, the exceptional and the avant garde. She covers the Fashion Forward section for the Style Blog. Follow Heiji on Twitter.