MAET

MAET is a minimalist Albanian luxury designer clothing label for women, founded in Tirana in 2021 by Alesia Zyla. Describing itself as the first ready-to-wear sustainable fashion brand made in Albania, the label sits at the intersection of chic sophistication and bold femininity. Zyla, its founder and creative director, has said creativity was her escape growing up, and she cites Phoebe Philo, Ann Demeulemeester, the Bauhaus and Zaha Hadid as influences. The collection includes dresses, tops, trousers, skirts, tailoring and knitwear with clean, linear lines and fluid draping, offered as a core seasonless selection. Every piece is made in Albania, handcrafted by an all-woman team of seamstresses at the MAET studio in Tirana. The brand follows slow fashion principles, using fabrics such as organic linen, certified silk, regenerated wool and Econyl. Many designs are made to order and ship within 48 hours, which has brought waste and overproduction down to almost zero, and the brand aims to empower women and the next generation of Albanian designers. MAET has been profiled by 33 Magazine, and the United States is now its biggest direct-to-consumer market.