Instaglam -- Antonio Lopez Illustrated

Fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez delivered hard bodied beauties to the canvas as if they had been drenched in latin libido, dropped from the talons of a tropical toucan and danced at an all night disco. Cobalt, luscious reds, fantastical fuchsias and violets, his heavy handed, technicolor-palette could only be upstaged by the figures that confined them, visually splashing throughout Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle throughout the 70's and across advertisements for Missoni, Norma Kamali + Oscar De La Renta.

He drops the brush but still shows his painterly pizzazz in the new book of candid photos, Instamatics, revealing all the fantastical mayhem of his real life. Nights watching Grace Jones and Jerry Hall (whom he lived with in Paris + discovered) perform cabaret acts, smoke-filled dance floors at dawn + the energy of YSL's design studio in 1983. He was able to capture, in drawings, milliseconds of sizzling sexuality within his mystical, party-driven life.

Instamatics is a photographic peek inside Lopez's world and reveals, in never before published polaroids, the wild inspiration from which he drew. Unbelievable moments of a glamazon Hall, Karl Lagerfeld sipping coke and plenty of naughty nudes.

An archive of an artist, the book inspires us to rock our most disco derived designs. Here are a few pieces that look as if they stepped out of one of his sketches.

Flamingo Pink One-Shoulder Jumpsuit


Palazzo Pizzaz


Orange Dior Sundress


Coastal Cool Playsuit

-- Michelle Pizzuro, guest blogger from Never Is Sacred