On Tuesday evening, Prabal Gurung took to the stage at The Plaza to accept the Designer of the Year award at the American Image Awards, where he was being honored along with The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Fashion Initiative, Gap Inc., Chip Bergh of Levi Strauss, and ThirdLove.

For the occasion, the CFDA member delivered some memorable words that powerfully resonated with the glamourous crown.

Here, an edited excerpt:

I feel very fortunate that I am part of this industry, making a living doing what I love.

As arduous and challenging as it may be, especially as a small independent, self-financed brand, I still consider myself lucky that I found my passion early on and live my version of that dream.

I love this industry because it has the power to change how we see each other.

For me personally, it has not only given me my identity but a platform where I can impact lives, whether it’s more than 100,000 lives back home in Nepal through my foundation or listening, learning, engaging, and participating in the much-needed cultural conversation around change especially issues related to the marginalized and minority groups.

It is also an industry that has allowed me to create my own found family. And I am grateful for that.

But…it’s also an industry which is not devoid of many issues and problems. Yes, progress is being made, but it still remains an industry that often rewards and celebrates only a particular type and idea of beauty, people, race, community, etcetera. It’s an industry that is deeply impacted, influenced, and dictated by the colonial lens and tastes; an industry that wakes up to the cultural movement hoping it will be a moment so they can go back to how things were.

In an industry where anyone who looks like me or has any resemblance to any of my friends from the marginalized and minority/BIPOC community is still a quota, a box to tick, a decorative display for the front of the house to let the culture and world know that the industry is “woke” while the board room and the decision-making tables remain blindingly white.

It is here where my Americanness has been questioned time and again. Like the time with a potential investor, when I expressed my desire to present the real version of Americana—a colorful version mixed with different shapes, sizes, gender identities etcetera, questioned, point-blank, “You don’t look American, so how will you define America?” This despite of being an American citizen, paying my dues, taxes, employing people and making more than 90 percent of my clothes here in New York.

These are not ‘woe is me.’ It really isn’t.

These are some of the highlights from the reels of my real-life….

But I am not an anomaly.

Ask any creatives of color what they go through, and the stories you will hear will perhaps make you empathize and hopefully truly understand the trauma attached to the fight against the invisibility of our existence.

Yes, despite all our work, we still have to fight for our visibility and validation.

We not only have to prove that we are equally good or better because we bring a diverse story that brings so much color to all our lives, but we also have to constantly fight for our Americanness, in this industry, in this country.

Therefore, this American Image Award handed to me — an immigrant, a gay man of color — well, the irony of it all is not lost on me.

I am sharing this with all of you because, despite all the challenges, I am grateful. Immensely. For this industry and to you all. For giving me this time and space tonight.

As a creative person, it’s very easy to get carried away, to receive an award like this and think I am the shit.

It feels good, don’t get me wrong. And it will be a great conversation when I go out on my date (which reminds me I still need to respond to that DM). So thank you for giving me this opportunity to, well, flex…

But in all seriousness, I have always felt that awards are not necessarily an indication of some talent…or any talent at all. Rather, they are about the moment, timing, and, most importantly, the people who choose to award you. It’s a reflection of them…their ability to see people.

So, to the people at the decision-making table who saw me…thank you very much. While I may be someone who has a clarity of my worth, there are thousands and millions of people who look like me…or belong to my world of misfits who always feel invisible and now perhaps they may see this image, this award, or this moment and realize that their impossible dreams can also come true someday.

Because life without impossible dreams is not worth it, and realizing the impossible dream with your passion and grit…well, what could be more American than that?