Then Franca Sozzani, the legendary editor of Vogue Italia (and, yes, an Italian), who died in December at age 66, was given the Fashion Icon award, a prize previously won by Beyoncé, Rihanna and Johnny Depp. And Demna Gvasalia, a Georgian designer based in Switzerland and showing in Paris, won the International award for his work at Vetements and at Balenciaga.

Even Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Monse, who won the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent, were born and raised elsewhere before moving to the United States for school and starting their business in the country (as well as becoming the creative directors of Oscar de la Renta). And Rick Owens, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, is American, but he lives and works in Paris.

In other words, if ever anyone wanted to make an argument for the importance of immigration, of cross-border fertilization, of the absence of walls and of the renewal and rebirth that comes from an outside perspective, they could do worse than to turn to the 2017 CFDA awards.

A lot has been written (and I have complained a lot) about the repetitive nature of these events, which often feature the same names, year after year. Of those in contention for women’s wear designer of the year, for example, all except Mr. Simons had won at least once before — some of them multiple times. That’s a problem — unless it is solved by broadening the definition of what constitutes “American,” opening the doors and welcoming different players.

The wins of Mr. Simons and Mr. Vevers reflected the need for new visions and new ideas — in other industries as well as this one. They spoke to the essential impossibility of trying to limit creativity of any kind (intellectual, artistic or practical) by nationality. There is a reason the CFDA has joined with the Mark Zuckerberg-backed nonprofit group Fwd.us to support immigration change. The evidence was onstage Monday night. To make local industry globally competitive, it needs global talent.