LOS ANGELES, Jun 5, 2007/ FW/ --- Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its awards ceremonies last night at the New York Public Library, CDFA marked a milestone as it honored America’s best and finest in fashion.

With Oscar de la Renta and design duo Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler tying for the 2007 Womenswear Designer of the Year, is also indicative of the diversity and strength of American fashion design.

Decades apart in age, Oscar de la Renta & Proenza Schouler represent two generations of fashion designers; their visions are different but share the road in taking American fashion design to its zenith.

Training under Balenciaga before launching his eponymous label in New York in 1965, Oscar De La Renta is one of the pillars of American fashion. The 2000 CFDA Designer of the Year awardee before last night’s win, he also served as its President at one point in time and became the first American to design for a French couture house when he became Creative Director for Balmain, a post he held for 10 years.

Relatively new in the fashion arena, (they launched Proenza Schouler in 2002), the design talents of Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez were immediately recognized because of their ability to conjure up a truly new silhouette. In their inventive hands, prosaic becomes very new, whether it's a trench coat cut to slide almost off the shoulders, a bolero oversized but never ungainly, or bashed brown balmacaans in buffalo.

Menswear Designer of the Year winner Ralph Lauren actually received two awards last night. The New York-based designer is also the first recipient of the new category launched this year, American Fashion Legend Award.

Derek Lam, meanwhile, snagged the Accessory Designer of the Year Award from Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. Phillip Lim for 3.1 Phillip Lim walked away with the Swarovski Award for Womenswear; David Neville and Marcus Wainwright won the Swarovski Award for Menswear, and the Swarovski Award for Accessory Design went to Jessie Randall for Loeffler Randall.

Other recipients of honorary awards chosen by the CFDA board of directors included jewelry designer Robert Lee Morris for lifetime achievement, Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan, French designer Pierre Cardin, and Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, as a special tribute to their humanitarian work.

Diane von Furstenberg, marking her first CFDA awards as the group's president, said the celebration of fashion sends the message that designers help each other.

"United we're stronger than we are individually," she said. "It's about the big one giving to the small one — and Ralph is the emperor."

Hosted by Ellen Barkin, the CFDA Awards night, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, Uma Thurman, Oprah Winfrey (who was wearing a Ralph Lauren gown), and the cast of the Tony-nominated musical "Spring Awakening presented the winners their awards.

Luminaries and fashion’s most recognizable faces jazzed up the event: Rachel Smith, reigning Miss USA selected a black & white paisley gown, Anna Wintour in Oscar De La Renta, Amy Fine Collins in vintage Geoffrey Beene.

CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Zac Posen, Arnold Scaasi and Vera Wang were joined by celebrity guests Kate Bosworth, Sean Combs, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Heidi Klum, Vanessa Williams, and Eva Mendes.

The winners and honorees of the 2007 CFDA Fashion Awards:

Womenswear Designer of the Year
Tie:

Menswear Designer of the Year

Accessory Designer of the Year

Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent Womenswear

Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent Menswear

Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent Accessory Design

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award

International Award

Eugenia Sheppard Award for Fashion Journalism

Eleanor Lambert Award

Board of Directors' Special Tribute

American Fashion Legend Award