Matthew Williamson.(fashion designer's collection)(Brief article)

What recession? At the opening-night party for the British designer Matthew Williamson's three-thousand-square-foot boutique full of optimistically hued frocks, throngs dressed in New York black waited their turns to squeeze inside--except, that is, for Mischa Barton, Heidi Klum, Lindsay Lohan, and a few other notables, who were ushered right in. And so hundreds of partygoers, champagne flutes in hand, fraternized in oddly shaped alcoves decorated with rococo furniture sprayed gold, chandeliers of Venini glass, birdless birdcages, and a Buddha wearing long strands of love beads. A fibre-optics wall resembling an aquarium minus fish cast a psychedelic glow in a room dedicated to shoes and handbags. But that was ho-hum compared to the glass-encased forest of trees, flowers, and cacti that greeted anyone who could manage to shove his or her way to the back of the shop. "Very Museum of Natural History," said one of many tall, skinny women. "But what's a mannequin like that doing in a ...