Surprise guest Beyonce accepts CFDA Fashion Icon Award

NEW YORK, June 7 (UPI) -- Beyonce skipped the red carpet but brought the CFDA Fashion Awards home with a heartfelt acceptance speech as this year's Fashion Icon.

The Lemonade songstress wore a glittering Givenchy suit as she walked into the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York Monday to accept her award, with husband Jay-Z, daughter Blue Ivy and mother Tina Knowles beside her.

"We have an opportunity to contribute to a society where any girl can look at a billboard or magazine cover and see her own reflection. Soul has no color, no shape, no form. Just like all your work it goes so far beyond what the eyes can see," Beyonce said in a message to designers.

"You have the power to change perception, to inspire and empower, to show people how to embrace their complications and flaws and see the true beauty that's inside all of us," she added.

This year's CFDA Fashion Awards also saw tons of exquisite fashions by the likes of Karlie Kloss, Laverne Cox, Stacey Bendet, Sara Paulson, Olivia Wilde, Jessica Chastain and more.

A slew of designers made appearances such as Joseph Altuzarra, Rosie Assoulin, Paul Andrews, Michael Kors, Christian Siriano, Brandon Maxwell and more.

The award ceremony also saw a passionate tribute to the late David Bowie, whom CFDA CEO Steven Kolb said was "such a good friend to everyone in the industry."

"So it was a very natural thing that we wanted to remember and celebrate him, not just as a musician, but as someone who influenced style," Kolb added. "He was not only a pioneer, but also someone who had great confidence and ease about himself, and that's what fashion is all about."