Were they auction paddles or fans that PR girls handed out as seating assignment cards at the Obedient Sons and Daughters show at Industria Studio's in the West Village? Whatever they were, the afternoon crowd used them to fend off the pre-rain heat before the live orchestral band struck up a tune and the models emerged from a scrim wearing the designs of Swaim and Christina Hutson. Coming off of their oversized-hipster plaid line last fall, the spring/summer collection worked outside of prevailing trends, concentrating on washed-out beachwear shot through with pink and mint stitching. This was a far more mature and mainstream Obedient than we've seen before, but no less well-executed, particularly when it came to the flowing women's pants and men's cardigans (sheer and worn backwards for effect). Slate-blue jackets for men and women embroidered with various '60s-themed slogans like, "Turn on Tune In," and "Keep Dreaming," were keynote political statements in a beautiful, understated collection.
