The Butterfly Effect

COURTESY GUILLERMO DE ZAMACONA

It’s the stuff dreams, and subsequent art exhibitions, are made of: Mexico City-born photographer Guillermo de Zamacona always remembered seeing the monarch butterfly migration. And he wanted other to experience the same thing, in spite of alarming data suggesting that the population of the butterflies is dropping heavily. So he put together his triad-camera and tripod, a supermodel, a rack of clothing, and made his own memorial. The result, Project: Monarch, just opened at Milk Studios in New York. De Zamacona’s lush series is set in butterfly sanctuaries in Chincua, Mexico and Piedra  Herrada, Mexico, and part of the proceeds go to supporting neighboring villages.

But what does Heidi Mount–and a prominent pair of YSL booties–have to do with the monarch butterfly, we asked. “As much as I like photography, I’ve always appreciated what fashion is and what it takes to put something together,” he explained. De Zamacona teamed up with stylist Rodney Hall, “Who told me we should not do anything that looks like a fairytale or anything else that would be an obvious choice, like butterflies or things like that.  He wanted to keep things either navy, or nude or light gray.” Prada, Valentino, Proenza Schouler and Alaia, among other designers, made the cut. The next step was bringing in Ms. Mount, who’s been pretty busy of late: “I was little concerned because she’s such a big model, and we spent three hours everyday in the car, another hour on a horse to get on the mountain, plus another hour on the horse to get back down, and three hours to get back to the hotel–for two days straight.”

MILK STUDIOS IS LOCATED AT 450 WEST 15 STREET, NEW YORK.
Heidi Mount wears a navy blue Prada lace dress, vintage Alaia belt, and custom necklace and headpiece.