The beautiful people came out tonight at Lincoln Center to hear the winners announced at the CFDA Awards.  There were very few surprises.  The big winner of the evening was Marc Jacobs for Womenswear Designer of the Year.  Take a look at the list of winners and nominees below to see if you agree with the outcome.

CFDA Winners:

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Marc Jacobs

Menswear Designer of the Year: Rag & Bone (Marcus Wainwright and David Neville)

Accessory Designer of the Year: Alexis Bittar

Popular Vote Award: Ralph Lauren

The Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Jason Wu

The Swarovski Award for Menswear: Richard Chai

The Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Alexander Wang

The Jeffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement: Michael Kors 

CFDA Special Award Tribute: Lee McQueen of Alexander McQueen

The Eugenia Sheppard Journalism Award – Kim Hastreiter (Paper Magazine)

The International Award – Christopher Bailey (Burberry Prorsum) 

The Eleanor Lambert Award – Tonne Goodman (Vogue)

Icon Award: Iman

Nominees:

Womenswear Designers of the Year – Donna Karan, Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs

Menswear Designers of the Year - Michael Bastian, Tom Ford and Rag & Bone (David Neville and Marcus Wainwright)

Accessory Designer of the Year - Alexis Bittar, Proenza Schouler (Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez) and Marc Jacobs

Swarovski Awards For Womenswear - Joseph Altuzarra, Prabal Gurung and Jason Wu

The Swarovski Award for Menswear – Simon Spurr, Patrik Ervell and Richard Chai

The Swarovski Award For Accessory Design – Dana Lorenz, Alexander Wang and Eddie Borgo

CFDA Special  Award Tribute – Alexander McQueen

The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award – Michael Kors

The Eugenia Sheppard Journalism Award – Kim Hastreiter (Paper Magazine)

The International Award – Christopher Bailey (Burberry Prorsum) 

The Eleanor Lambert Award – Tonne Goodman (Vogue)

The Fashion Icon Award – Iman

Related Updates: CFDA Announces Fashion Awards Finalists

Sarah Burton has been named the new creative director at the house of Alexander McQueen.  Burton has been with the fashion house since 1996.  Lee McQueen was a fashion visionary, and it makes good sense creatively to fill the position with someone who has worked closely with him.  The fashion house is own by the Gucci Group, and it is no stranger to the fashion business or to making good business decisions.  McQueen left a major void in his company when he committed suicide back in February.  His Spring 2010 collection was the design genius at his best.  Many will view the Spring 2011 collection with mixed emotions; there will be sadness because McQueen is no longer at the helm, and pride to see his legacy live on.  A thriving and successful Alexander McQueen would be the greatest tribute to the late designer.

Heartbreak within the fashion community today as we learned of the untimely death of designer Lee McQueen of Alexander McQueen.  Shock and disbelief were the sentiments of the day.  We lost a creative genius who leaves behind a void.  He was only 40 years old when he took his own life.  His death took us especially hard in New York because today marked the first day of fashion week, and it was also supposed to be the day McQueen’s McQ line debuted in New York for the first time. 

Lee McQueen was a London born designer who showed his line in Paris.  He had the ability to tailor suits to the perfect specifications of the body.  McQueen was also a master at putting on a runway show, you watched for the spectacle as well as the collection.  Each year he would out-do himself, it was theater and we watched with excitement.  His spring 2010 collection gave us a glimpse of the future, and we eagerly anticipated his next show.  Sadly, it will never be, even if the show does go on. We should not focus on his death, but on the wealth of wearable art he has left behind.