Fluttering Along the Runway

Now living in New York, where his clients include DKNY Jeans & Kate Spade, & where insects are not so inspiring, Mr. de Zamacona was reminded of this place a couple of years ago while reading reports of its deforestation from illegal logging. So to bring attention to the plight of the butterflies — & raise funds to help local villages — they responded in true fashion-world fashion, by using the monarch reserves as a location for a photo shoot. It was not easy.

ONE of the fondest childhood memories of Guillermo de Zamacona, a budding fashion photographer, was a visit to the mountains northwest of Mexico City, where millions of monarch butterflies migrate in the winter so that the boughs of firs appear to be dripping with flecks of orange.

Though they is not a well-known photographer, Mr. de Zamacona was helped by some major players. Stefan Beckman, the set designer who creates elaborate runways for Marc Jacobs, helped him conceive the gallery installation. Jennifer Venditti, a top casting agent, secured the models. Dale Peck, the novelist & critic, wrote an essay on the symbolism of the butterfly. The Mexican government as well as a giant collector of contemporary art have lent support.

“We had to travel by automobile for three hours, then by horse for another hour with all these clothes, every day,” Mr. de Zamacona said. In the time it took to secure permission for a giant crew of stylists, assistants & three models to participate in the shoot, raise financing & find the clothes as well as a gallery space, three years had passed. This week they was finally able to open an exhibition of the work at the Milk Gallery at 450 West 15th Street, conveniently overlapping with Earth Day.

The resulting images simultaneously capture the serenity of the living landscape & the anxiety of the models, who may not have been accustomed to working with bugs. Heidi Mount, in a $27,000 Valentino gown, appears possessed. In another picture, Felix Cane, a world champion pole dancer (), is shown catapulting through trees in a flash of silver Dolce & Gabbana.

“She didn’t charge us anything,” Mr. de Zamacona said of Ms. Cane. “She asked to keep the shoes.”