The CFDAs, which took place this year under the big blue whale at the Natural History Museum, are usually a good snapshot of what’s happening in the fashion industry. As with any awards show, who wins means nothing and everything at the same time. Willy Chavarria, a former designer at Calvin Klein and the most compelling menswear designer working in the U.S. at the moment, took the prize in that category—a win for independent brands and thinkers, alike. 

In womenswear, it felt like the room was pulling for the establishment’s favorite daughter, Tory Burch, whose brand has morphed into something new over the past few years. But that award went, for the second year in a row, to Catherine Holstein, the designer behind Khaite, whose Stripes-backed label is a shooting star in retail. Coincidentally, Holstein recently hired Brigitte Kleine, a Stripes operating partner and one of the most important early architects of Tory Burch, as her C.E.O. If Burch is the Ralph Lauren of her generation, perhaps Holstein will be the Tory Burch of hers.