Arzu Kaprol presents collection in Paris

PARIS - The Associated Press

Arzu Kaprol’s springsummer 2012 ready to wear collection was presented in the last day of Paris fashion week. AA photo.

Turkish designer Arzu Kaprol, whose Paris debut last March provided the season’s unintentional comic relief, was back with a more polished display Wednesday this time, without the audience or models breaking into laughter.

The clothes in Wednesday’s spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection were basically hard-edged clubbing gear, short sheath dresses and sharp-shouldered jackets in body hugging fabrics. Much of the looks felt derivative, with precious little to distinguish them from similar sex-drench going-out gear that floods catwalks and high streets worldwide. But still, you could see a certain type of girl buying them something that cannot be said of many of the Paris collections, which are utterly removed from women’s reality.

Plus, there were a few standout pieces, like an ivory silk blouse with sleeves made out of little rolled tubes of fabric which had a vaguely Ottoman feel.

Last season, high-profile Canadian model Jessica Stam lost it on the runway when she had to don a giant plastic egg and in truth it would have been impossible not to crack a smile. But Stam continued to smirk away this season, shooting a sideways glance at a friend in the audience and laughing, even though there was nothing funny in Kaprol’s much-improved follow-up effort Wednesday.