Serena Williams accepts fashion icon award from Kim Kardashian, Khaite wins big at 2023 CFDA Awards

NEW YORK – Amid sleek black tie fare and voluminous gowns, a giant walrus watched on while a 94-foot-long blue whale floated overhead. No, it wasn't a fever dream, but a night at the museum for the 61st annual CFDA Fashion Awards.

A-list celebrities and the fashion elite ventured to uptown Manhattan on Monday night to the American Museum of Natural History for the Council of Fashion Designers of America's annual event, likened to the Oscars of American fashion. 

"Through fashion, we truly have the opportunity to paint our own tapestry and share our unique perspectives with the world," said Serena Williams, who earned the night's fashion icon award presented to her by friend Kim Kardashian. Williams, who wore custom Thom Browne for the occasion, recalled "reimagining the traditional tennis outfits" with "skirts out of denim, and I wore purple tutus and bodysuits and knee-high boots and put beads in my hair and braids."

"I stand here with you all today, not just as an athlete, but as someone who has personally experienced the extraordinary power of fashion," said the tennis great and S by Serena creator.

The 2023 event − hosted by Anne Hathaway (who stepped in after original host Sarah Jessica Parker was "unable to due to unforeseen circumstances") − focused on womenswear, menswear, accessories and emerging talent amid other achievement awards.

And though the crowd wasn't treated to an onstage moment, "The Devil Wears Prada" actress and the inspiration for the movie's Miranda Priestly character, Vogue's Anna Wintour, breathed the same air in the room.

"I am your host, Sarah Jessica Parker's understudy," Hathaway joked. "Or as the internet sometimes refers to me, not Amal Clooney."

CFDA Fashion Award winners include Khaite's Catherine Holstein, Willy Chavarria, more

For the second year in a row, Catherine Holstein won the womenswear designer award for her work at Khaite, up against Joseph Altuzarra for Altuzarra, Christopher John Rogers, Raul Lopez for Luar and Tory Burch for the coveted top award of the night.

Hathaway presented the womenswear award alongside designer Narciso Rodriguez, rattling off a list of qualities womenswear must possess: "a design that fits a variety of body shapes, skin tones, age groups, personality types, seasons, budgets, hopes and dreams, passes 24/7 endurance performance stress tests, it's aspirational, yet grounded, fully rooted in the myriad responsibilities of a woman's daily life."

More winners of the night included Willy Chavarria for menswear designer ("I design to lift people up," said Chavarria, who noted he lost his prepared remarks while dressing Rauw Alejandro and Tokischa); Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for accessory designer of luxe fashion brand The Row (they didn't attend); and Diotima's Rachel Scott for emerging designer presented by Shop with Google (the Jamaican-born and New York-based designer incredulously walked on stage to Sister Nancy's "Bam Bam" blasting over the speakers).

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Gwyneth Paltrow, Vera Wang receive fashion honors at CFDA Awards

As the wait staff carried plates topped with a dinner of chicken pot pies, Kardashian sat at the head table with La La Anthony, Lil Yachty, Williams and Wintour; Quinta Brunson held court with "The Bear" actress Ayo Edebiri and embraced Prabal Gurung (who designed the "Abbott Elementary" star's gown for her debut Met Gala earlier this year); Instagram's fashion partnerships director and author Eva Chen introduced "The Summer I Turned Pretty" starlet Lola Tung at each table; Ashley Graham embraced with Diane von Furstenberg; and photographers made their way around the room to snap photos of stars including Teyana Taylor, Martha Stewart and more.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop "keyed into the zeitgeist," said Demi Moore, who presented the lifestyle brand founder and CEO with the Amazon Fashion Innovation Award.

"Gwyneth Paltrow didn't become an award-winning business mogul overnight. I mean some of you may not know this, but she started as an actress," Moore said to laughs from the crowd.

"A friend of mine once referred to Goop as an irreplaceable provocateur for good. And when I look forward to the next 15 years, I really hope that we continue to be culture changers to inspire big or small changes," Paltrow said.

Vera Wang received the Board of Director's Tribute, celebrating her work in bridal fashion as "a disrupter, a trailblazer and a true visionary," presenter Vanessa Hudgens said.

"I didn't think I'd be this moved, but I really am," Wang said as she accepted the trophy.

Wang said she hopes her win "adds a much-needed light on the bridal industry for a fashion veteran like myself, who barely made it to the alter at 40 and was probably the woman least likely to get married, let alone devote 30-plus years to creating wedding gowns."

A starstruck Jonathan Anderson, known for his intricate works of art for design houses JW Anderson and Loewe, was honored as the international designer of the year and praised for creating "a fashion utopia for craft lovers," as presenter Greta Lee called it. "In America, you are amazing at public speaking, and in Europe, we're not very good at it," Anderson joked before recalling his "surreal" year, which included designing Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show look.

The night's tone skewed more solemn as presenters and the winners of the night indirectly addressed the troubles of the world, namely the ongoing violent conflict between Israelis and Hamas militants. 

But some celebration remained, as hip-hop and fashion's Battle of Versailles both honored 50th anniversaries and recognized the luminaries who brought both to life.

Mary J. Blige honored the "hip-hop style, a cultural phenomenon," introducing a video tribute from legendary director Hype Williams that featured Missy Elliott (recently inducted into the Rock Hall as the first female rapper), LL Cool J and the late Biz Markie. For the Battle of Versailles, which in 1973 pitted five French and five American designers against each other in a sartorial showdown, trailblazing models and activists Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison joined Stephen Burrows, the last living of the American designers. 

Tom Ford chairperson Domenico De Sole took home the founder's award, while the CFDA honored fashion designer Maria Cornejo with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award and journalist Alina Cho won the media award. Mara Hoffman received the sustainability award, presented to her by Rosario Dawson.