Nicole Miller Spring 2018

For her Spring ’18 collection, Nicole Miller transformed the Gramercy Park Hotel rooftop into a Manhattan safari, replete with oversized plants, brush, and the NYC skyline. “We liked [the rooftop] because it looked tropical. It was almost ready to go, even though we added a few installations,” Miller told us.

Inspired by the film Mogambo—a 1953 rom-com where Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly fight for the attention of Clark Gable while visiting a Kenyan safari—Miller’s Spring ’18 collection featured combat boots and the feminine dresses she’s famous for—some emblazoned with parrots, butterflies, and florals, some ruffled, some lace—leather jackets, khaki pieces like a mid-length skirt and a range of trench coats, and canteen-shaped purses.

“It’s [about] a city girl who goes on a safari but she kind of dresses inappropriately and shows up in her high heels and the wrong clothes, so everything is a little askew,” Miller told us before her presentation. “Some of the dresses are kind of ladylike but she’s wearing safari boots. We styled the whole collection to be kind of tongue-in-cheek.”

Safari trip or not, there’s plenty here for the Nicole Miller girl in the concrete jungle.