CFDA Awards 2012 Instagram Pictures

Fashion's biggest night has come and gone — but not without plenty of glamour and charm. And why not? After all, it's not every day that the industry meets up to reflect and celebrate. "It's like a reunion," Zac Posen explained. "The community works together."

"I'm excited about five decades of American fashion," CFDA chief Steven Kolb explained as he strolled the red carpet. "It's our 50th anniversary so we did a really cool retrospective, with designers from the '60s, like Donald Brooks, all the way up through the zeros to now. Its going to be really good. That's what I'm most excited about."

"I'm really excited about the fact that so many wonderful people have been nominated, and also that the whole design community comes together," fashion patron and style icon Michelle Harper agreed. "Diane von Furstenberg is an incredible leader, Steven Kolb is fantastic. And just all the efforts that they do to support designers — it's amazing."

Tommy Hilfiger, who was to be honored with the prestigious Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, was also in high spirits. "I think, 'Is this really happening?' Then I think about the fact that I've been doing this for a long time, but also, I think, I'm too young to get this award," the iconic designer laughed.

See our snapshots and read more from the industry's biggest players and supporters — including Diane von Furstenberg, Doutzen Kroes, Jessica Chastain, and more — here, in the slideshow.