NEW YORK -- The Council of Fashion Designers of America has again named Narciso Rodriguez, a red-carpet favourite of Sarah Jessica Parker and Salma Hayek, as the best U.S. womenswear designer. Rodriguez, known for sleek, form-fitting gowns, won for the second year in a row. Parker and Calvin Klein handed out the award at the annual CFDA gala.

Rodriguez, who previously worked for Klein, said that when he left the famous design house 10 years ago to launch his own label, a supportive Klein told him fashion was a difficult business in which true success was rare.

"A few nights ago, he (Klein) said that I was doing it and I was doing it well," said a teary Rodriguez.

Parker, the host for fashion's equivalent of the Academy Awards, ironically didn't include a Rodriguez gown in her wardrobe for the evening. Instead, she wore a dress designed by each of the gala's three chairs: a strapless pink and white polka-dot dress by Carolina Herrera, a nude-coloured dress with a white sequin hem by Vera Wang and a black dress with spaghetti straps and a handkerchief hem by Klein.

When Michael Kors accepted the menswear design award, the Oscar winner said, "Security was tight. They checked my label at the door."