WASHINGTON — What Democratic debate? On Wednesday night, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and female camaraderie took center stage in D.C.

The "Notorious RBG," 86, was honored with the DVF Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award for being a trailblazer, contributing to gender equality and supporting women's issues.

Supermodel Iman, along with Priti Patkar, who is working to stop the cycle of intergenerational sex trafficking in India, and Saskia Nino de Rivera, who provides services to those in Mexico's prison system, were also honored for their contributions Wednesday.

The 11th annual DVF Awards, which are normally in New York and held around springtime, traveled to the capital and were held at the Library of Congress for the first time — all for Ginsburg. Diane von Furstenberg said that in order to honor RBG, they had to work around Ginsburg's schedule.

"I'm so happy we did; it's the least we can do," she told USA TODAY prior to her namesake event. "It's actually given us the idea that we can make these awards travel; they don't have to only be in New York."

The DVF Awards were created in 2010 by von Furstenberg, 73, to honor extraordinary women who are making an impact on other women's lives: "Women who have had the courage to fight, the strength to survive and the leadership to inspire," she explained.

The theme of the evening was women uplifting other women, and it permeated every aspect of the awards.

"It's hard to believe that I'm going to be at the Library of Congress, at the same time there's two exhibitions honoring women (Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words and Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote)," von Furstenberg said. "This is the 100th anniversary that women can vote... all of those things all tied together make an incredible energy around this evening."

She was right. The energy at the Library of Congress was palpable.

Accomplished women like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were in attendance, and there was a sense of camaraderie among the guests.

There were small but noticeable moments that exhibited the respect and kindness shared among the big names in attendance: Iman and von Furstenberg fan-girled when speaking about Ginsburg and being in her presence.

"Your mother raised you well," Iman told fellow supermodel Karlie Kloss between interviews.

"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" star Lana Condor shared that von Furstenberg helped her fix her jumpsuit before she walked the carpet: "She literally came and tied it herself... I tied it wrong," Condor, 22, told USA TODAY.

But RBG was "the true rockstar" of the evening, as Iman noted.

Clinton, 72, presented the award to the Supreme Court Justice and shared a few humorous anecdotes while praising Ginsburg's landmark case.

"Advancing the rights of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century and no one has done more to push it into reality than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg," Clinton said. "Every step of the way throughout her career, she has sent a clear message that women belong in all places that decisions are being made."

While speaking about Ginsburg's efforts in the fight for gender equality, Clinton recalled how a Harvard professor once told her "we don't need any more women" in the university's law program.

Clinton, author of The "Book of Gutsy Women," also took a playful jab at her husband to illustrate how much of a difference Ginsburg's pioneering work made in her personal and professional life.

"I couldn’t get a credit card after I got married. I made more money than my husband," Clinton joked. "A common experience throughout our marriage."

When Ginsburg took the stage to accept her award, there was a thick silence that fell over the audience.

Flipping the script, Ria Tabacco Mar, the director of the ACLU's Women’s Rights Project asked Ginsburg what advice she has for men who are balancing work and kids.

Ginsburg left the crowd with a few words of wisdom: "One of the saddest things about men's lives is that they're out there working to turn over a buck and one day their children are grown and they didn't have any real part in raising them."