Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, he's is best known for his masterful, Pop Art-infused sketches and colorful personality portraits. The late Antonio Lopez was one of the best fashion illustrators, if not THE best of his day – a day when fashion illustration as still a “thing”. While working in Paris with art director Juan Ramos, Lopez notably discovered then models, Jerry Hall and Tina Chow and befriended the likes of Jessica Lange and Grace Jones and others that what we now know, were at the top of their field. These rarely seen Instamatic photographs here featuring Karl Lagerfeld, Andy Warhol, Anna Piaggi and more were shot during Lopez’s downtime from assignments for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times. Lopez’s candid images of his entourage basking in St. Tropez and Studio 54-era New York are merely the Instagrams of their day but. Designer Ana Sui says about Lopez, who would be 70 himself this year;

“I’m from the generation that came to New York to meet their idols. In my case it was Andy Warhol and Antonio Lopez.”

For more, the monograph to get is Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex and Disco by the Padilha bros., Roger and Mauricio. It doesn’t matter the year, real glamour and style only gets moreso, as time passes, huh?

Eija Vehka Aho, Juan Ramos, Jacques de Bascher, Karl Lagerfeld and Antonio Lopez

Anna Piaggi and Antonio Lopez, circa 1980

Karl Lagerfeld, Saint-Tropez, circa 1970

Juan Ramos and Karl Lagerfeld, Saint Tropez, circa 1970; Andy Warhol, “Antonio’s Girls”, 1983

Jessica Lange and Gilles Millinaire, London, 1975

Antonio Lopez, Corey Grant Tippin and Donna Jordan, Saint Tropez, 1970

(via Nowness)