The tents have been taken down, the fashion editors have returned to their lairs, and the media and celebrities have moved on to the Academy Awards — but we’re still recovering from a very busy week as the official water of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Accompanied by our stalwart interns, FIJI Water was a welcome presence this season. Our little square bottles were spotted quenching thirsts at shows by Michael Kors, Christian Siriano, Charlotte Ronson, Isaac Mizrahi, Rebecca Minkoff, and many, many more. To see some of the pictures we have from the week, go to our Facebook photo albums or see our Flickr stream (also below).

But the highlight of the week for us was the Christian Siriano Collection (one of his shoes is in the picture above). We streamed the show live on our website and Facebook page to thousands of viewers — and after the show, Siriano gave away a look from the collection on our site. Congratulations Lindsay LaHote on winning a dress from Christian Siriano!

The FIJI Water Fashion Week Interns.

The FIJI Water Fashion Week Interns on the Scene

Our interns, Brittany Caswell, Jackie McKenzie, Meghan Alyssa, and Alma Alice Woo, turned heads in their looks styled by Fashionista.com, which also has a fabulous interview with all four interns.

The girls got to see plenty of the fashion action at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, while passing out FIJI Water and representing us with style. Caswell and McKenzie were even photographed by The Daily, a fashion magazine put out by MBFW organizer IMG.

Other brushes with celebrity include McKenzie being “accidentally shoved” by Anna Wintour’s handlers, but the good sport said she didn’t mind because Wintour gave her a kind word and McKenzie “also somehow touched her fur.” Wow.

Said Caswell of the whole experience, “This is surreal! I saw people from Anna Wintour to Kim Kardashian. I took a picture for Essence Magazine street style and then another with Brad [Goreski].”

It wasn’t all fun and games, however. When we ran our internship contest back in December, we warned participants that there would be hard work involved — and we weren’t kidding. The interns certainly did their time out of doors this fashion week, passing bottles in the cold outside the venue at DKNY, and distributing FIJI Water on a chilly Sunday from an ice bar in a courtyard at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Such is the price of a career in fashion.

The Bumbys: performance artists and fashionistas.

The Bumbys’ Dry Wit Makes a Splash

FIJI Water sponsored Brooklyn-based performance art duo the Bumbys (“Jill” and “Gill”) to appear at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and offer their “fair and honest appraisal of your appearance” to the curious. The duo was a hit with attendees and the media, earning mentions in Fashionista.com, ELLE, and elsewhere.

Said our own Paul Poux about the Bumbys, “Some people were intimidated by the idea that they were going to be judged or have their clothes critiqued, but that’s not what the Bumbys do at all: They create an idea for you of who you might be — or should be — based on your look. It’s priceless to see guests wait while the Bumbys type away making an appraisal – they stand there waiting, waiting, then finally receive their typed card, read it, and always break into laughter.”

Our guess is they’ll be offering up their appraisals at more events in the future!

But What About the Fashion??

As for the shows and the clothes, we were able to gather a few pithy observations in between running around like headless chickens in stilettos:

• Zang Toi, profiled last season right here at FIJIWater.com, had widespread, spontaneous applause break out after the show — the only one we saw where that happened. Zang also got a standing ovation afterward. We ran into him the next day on the way to friend Pamela Rolland‘s show, and he said he was pleased with the reaction but was relieved all the hard work was over.
• The celebrities were back at Marc Jacobs after several season where celebs were noticeably absent — most likely because Jacobs decided to let them back.
• Libertine, which showed Saturday morning at 10 a.m. (so early!), managed to wake up the crowd with colorful clothes and patterns on traditional designs.

That’s it for now. Until September, so long and stay hydrated!