There was one big question on the mind of most everyone who swanned into Lincoln Center's newly renovated Alice Tully Hall last night for the annual and ever higher profile Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Awards, and it had nothing to do with the astounding transformation wrought by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. No, the sartorially astute crowd was too busy wondering whether self-taught designing sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte would best decorated veterans Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriguez to win the award for womenswear designer of the year—just one year after they won the Swarovski award for the label they founded in 2005. In a word, yes.

The Mulleavys took home the CFDA's top honor for their otherworldly womenswear, which Kate described to us last fall as the product of everything from "a lot of trial and error" to—in the case of the spring 2009 collection—an inspired "mixture between science fiction and site-specific art." Meanwhile, Scott Sternberg for Band of Outsiders and Italo Zucchelli for Calvin Klein Collection tied for menswear designer of the year honors, while enduring CFDA favorites Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler took home the accessory designer of the year award. The Swarovski awards were presented to Alexander Wang (womenswear), Tim Hamilton (menswear), and Justin Giunta for Subversive Jewelry (accessory design). Taking home the first ever popular vote award for favorite fashion designer, chosen online by the public, was Ralph Lauren.

Previously on UnBeige: