Maria Cornejo’s bright new Bleeker Street store and atelier is a charming slice of old New York. But there is a certain something that outshines the lead-framed windows and clean architectural design. What is this lovely distraction? It’s the Zero + Maria Cornejo Spring 09 collection, of course.

An avant-garde interpretation of smart spring essentials, the collection marks Zero’s ten year anniversary and looks back at the patterns, shapes and themes that formed its refined urban aesthetic. In tangy lime and charcoal, a billowy silk dress flaunts the designer’s distinctive draping technique. A mannequin dressed in an angular leather top and softly ruched skirt references her long-standing interest in duality and contrast, and mini sequins from seasons past bring a burst of glamour to an airy black evening dress.

Cornejo confesses that the collection’s “10 Year Print” is especially significant. A combination of various prints that she and her husband, photographer Mark Borthwick, have created throughout the years, the “10 Year” celebrates not only Zero’s evolution but also the creative union between Cornejo and her husband.

“It shows the collaboration; the love and support my husband has given me,” says Cornejo about the dynamic print. A symbolic arrangement of text and graphics, the “10 Year” pops on signature cocoon coats, is sophisticated on grey silk dresses and brings an artful edge to a variety of simple summer knits. While it reflects the past, the designer’s fresh spring clothes mark a definitive leap into Zero’s future. How fitting that such an important collection be the first to hang in Zero + Maria Cornejo’s new home.

Zero + Maria Cornejo: 33 Bleecker Street (between Lafayette and Bowery), New York, NY 10012.