Amanda Lew Kee grows up, ditching blue lips and orange tinsel for cool prints, neoprene and more

Amanda Lew Kee was first at bat yesterday at Toronto Fashion Week, and although the 1 p.m. time slot didn’t offer much in the way of boldface names (except, we suppose, those who could take a long lunch), we did spot MuchMusic’s Sarah Taylor, MTV’s Nicole Holness and Fashion Collective’s Dwayne Kennedy, sporting a fur vest that could have been stolen from the Mr. Burns’ gorilla vest (made from real gorilla chest hair) collection. This season’s showing was much stronger than last (which could have been called “tinsel tizzy”), with Alexander Wang–ish biker shorts (with a sheer side panel), printed silks and maxi dresses. Check out Amanda Lew Kee’s entire spring/summer 2012 collection after the jump.

Check out Amanda Lew Kee’s complete spring/summer 2012 collection »

Style scribe Sarah Nicole Prickett noted the transparent green visors looked like Marc by Marc Jacobs, but we prefer to think of them as “grandmother visiting Atlantic City.” We loved the crinkled maxi skirts, a neoprene skort that shone like satin and bright, reflective midnight-blue brogues, but the zippers on some dresses, buckled with fabric—perhaps intentionally—looked unnecessarily sloppy. A series of Lew Kee prints, named New York and Toronto, were winners, too, but her closing look of a sheer magenta maxi dress was not a favourite—a tube of fabric does not a dress make. Last season it seemed like Lew Kee had bought stock in a blue lipstick company (perhaps one owned by the Smurf Corporation), but this year she trotted out pink lipped and demure. It’s a sure sign that she has grown up, and so has her collection.