I met up with Corey Lynn Calter, one of L.A.’s most consistently fabulous contemporary designers, at her showroom downtown today — where she showed me the first shipment of her sunny Spring 2010 collection, and toured me through her brand new lower-priced line, Bird on a Wire.

Rife with punky 80s stripes and ditsy floral prints — often incorporated into the same garment — Calter’s Spring collection, dubbed “Secret Garden,” is built for cool girls who are into flaunting their quirky, colorful side. “I have been so into turquoise lately,” noted the fresh-faced designer. “And I’m definitely not done with yellow yet — the more mustard-y and saffron-y, the better.”

There are spaghetti-strapped rompers, a sharp little striped lapel-less blazer and a bevy of kicky, printed sundresses. “I’m trying to keep things optimistic,” said Calter. “I think we need that right now. But I can’t stand to look at anything that’s too sugary-sweet.”

Calter’s spanking-new diffusion line, Bird on a Wire, employs similar sensibilities — great prints and an avalanche of flirty silhouettes. It skimps slightly on the details and uses less tony fabrics, but that’s how she’s keeping the price points between $29 and $150.

“The collection is really about using our best-selling bodies,” said Calter, noting that the line’s reception at the recent Coterie trade show was overwhelmingly positive. “Retailers have said to me, I love your line, but the customer isn’t spending what she used to. So I figured, let’s do a lower-price collection.”

At least one of our fave designers is listening.

Photos: Corey Lynn Calter with her namesake collection for Spring 2010; a few hanging looks from the collection.