Antonio Lopez- Remembering a Great Fashion Illustrator

Antonio Lopez was a world famous fashion illustrator during the time of the 1960’s through the 1980’s. His work was so charged with energy and passion that designers have said that he inspired their work. His work was flamboyant, and glamourous. He generally signed his work with simply his first name, “Antonio.”   He worked in a variety of mediums, from pencil, pen, watercolor, Polaroid film and charcoal.

When I was a teenager the person who inspired me the most in the fashion world was Antonio Lopez. There were times I would see a drawing of his and my heart would race with excitement. I remember waiting in anticipation for the New York Times to be delivered on Sunday so I could see what new drawings he had done for Bloomingdale’s or Bergdorf Goodman’s for instance. Each month when Vogue or Bazaar magazine came out it was the same anticipation. His work was exhilarating, capturing the essence of the world of fashion at the time. GQ editor Philp Smith wrote in Art Magazine in 1980 “the images function more as social icons than advertisements (1).”

 

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Antonio was born in 1943 in Utado, Puerto Rico. His family moved to Bronx, NY when he was seven.  As a small child he began drawing at age 2, inspired by the dresses and fabrics his mother worked with as a seamstress. His father worked making mannequins and Antonio often helped him. His parents encouraged him to work in fashion.   He graduated from New York’s High School of Fashion Art and Design. He then went on to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. There he met Juan Ramos, who became his art director and partner for 25 years. While a student at FIT he was in a work study program with Women’s Wear Daily. In 1962, he went to work full time for WWD and became one of their illustrators. He dropped out of school, and in 1963 he began working for the New York Times and taking on freelance work as well.

Antonio enjoyed the nightlife scene, clubs, and parties and was friends with and models and actresses such as Jerry Hall, whom he discovered at seventeen, Jessica Lange and Grace Jones, whom he drew often. Eventually these portraits were made into a collection referred to as “Antonio’s Girls,” a book that was published in 1982. He was a catalyst in the lives of many of his women friends.   He discovered Tina Lutz, an aspiring model, and later introduced her to Michael Chow, a restauranteur, who became her future husband. Paloma Picasso spoke about how he would even draw in the midst of a party. His male friends included Andy Warhol, Yves Saint Laurent, photographer Bill Cunningham, and Karl Lagerfeld, whom owned the apartment he and Ramos loved in while in Paris in the late sixties and early seventies.

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Female figure with large hat and Borzoi dog. Color

His work appeared in such magazines as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, the New York Times Magazine and Interview. He created ads for designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Valentino and Missoni. In 1985 he published Antonio’s Tales From the Thousand and One Nights (2). Many designers have said that they were inspired by Antonio and his illustrations, or photography. To this day he is remembered as a major figure in the fashion industry. In 2012 a book, “Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex and Disco”, was published, about Antonio’s life and career. It was written by Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha, and published by Rizzoli.

Antonio Lopez’s life was brief, due to his death from complications caused by the AIDS virus in 1987. He was forty four at the time. His friend, model Susan Baraz, was with him at the time of his death (3).  Later that year Baraz and Hossein Farmani, a publisher for Vue Magazine, founded the organization Focus on AIDS, which “raises funds for AIDS research, care, and education through photography auctions (4).”

Antonio Lopez’s legacy unfortunately faded from the spotlight after his death, due partially to the stigma of AIDS at the time, and partially to the lack of internet. In recent years between the book release about his life and recent exhibitions, the hope is that more people will be inspired by his work. In 2013, Mac make- up and accessories released a collection that was presented by Jerry Hall, Pat Cleveland and Marisa Berenson to celebrate and bring awareness to Antonio’s life and work. All three models careers were launched by working with Antonio Lopez (5). He truly was a major inspiration, in the fashion industry to countless lives.

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  1. http://www.societyillustrators.org/Awards-and-Competitions/Hall-of-Fame/Past-Inductees/1999–Antonio-Lopez.aspx
  2. Schiro, Anne-Marie (1987-03-18), “Antonio Lopez is dead at 44; was major fashion illustrator”, New York Times, archived from the original on 29 December 2009, retrieved 2009-12-04
  3. Schiro, Anne-Marie (1987-03-18), “Antonio Lopez is dead at 44; was major fashion illustrator”, New York Times, archived from the original on 29 December 2009, retrieved 2009-12-04 and Schiro, Anne-Marie (1987-03-18), “Antonio Lopez is dead at 44; was major fashion illustrator”, New York Times, archived from the original on 29 December 2009, retrieved 2009-12-04
  4. “Who We Are”. Focus on AIDS. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  5. http://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/2013/07/29/mac-antonio-lopez-illustrator-collection-jerry-hall

 

 All written material by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”

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Aprons with Vintage Linens and “Granny Chic”

I made these two aprons, for my daughter, Emily, using Tif’Fussell’s a ‘perfectly peach’ pinny recipe for making an apron from vintage and retro pieces. The only new things I bought, aside from thread, was ribbons since I didn’t have old sheets or other long pieces of fabric that I wanted to use for making the ties for the aprons. This “recipe,” as well numerous others for crafts projects or ideas for decorating your home in a lovely floral, or doily, “Granny Chic” style are available in the book, which was put together by Tif Fussell and her friend Rachelle Blondel. Both have a history of blogging, Rachel is still blogging. Tif is no longer blogging however one can view her older posts at: http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/ and Rachell’s still current blog is at: http://www.dockandnettle.com/  She also has her blog from at the time the book was written:http://talesoftedandagnes.blogspot.com/  I have found that looking through the old blog posts one often finds nice craft projects.

I was considering doing an entire post on this “Granny Chic” book; however it seems like it’d be easier to do various posts about some of the different projects as I go along. The book is great, by the way, especially for those who have a notion to be “crafty.” There are covered lamp shades you can create with floral fabrics, round pillows, bottles covered in fabric, these are just to name a few.  If you’d like a glimpse into Dottie Angel’s world you can go to Flickr and view her albums like Mossy Shed, which display photos of Tif Fussell’s lovely home and air streamer. I’d show you some pictures; however they are not available for download. You can view them at: https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dottie+angel   I have spent an hour or two viewing these albums a few times since they are so inspiring!! The other good news is that Tif has a pattern coming out for her “Dottie Angel Frock” this month with Simplicity patterns. I am eager to buy it as soon as it comes out since her dresses are marvelously simple and beautiful.  I created a small gallery below, of a picture of the book and a few photos I took of the book, and some of its pictures inside.

The first apron I made was relatively simple to create; it is the orange and yellow one in this post. I used one side of a vintage pillowcase, added a vintage placemat, sewed down the center of the placemat to create large pockets and added some colorful ribbons to the top. Emily had just folded over the ribbons in the photos and I didn’t realize it! I used an old t-shirt’s orange lace for the lace.  I found the t- shirt at a clothing swap.  We all know I like to recycle things, find a new use for them.

The second apron was significantly more work, yet it was really fun to create it. I used a retro pillowcase my mother had embroidered years ago, a few pieces of vintage linens and some small pieces of fabric, or patches of embroidery to cover stains, or spots, where the fabric was wearing thin on the blue vintage piece in the center of the apron.  I was very pleased with the lovely collaged look of the final outcome of the project. I have a history of enjoying making collages so that part came naturally to me. The corner pieces in the apron that are patchwork quilted is from a fair in Pennsylvania, where I bought several of those squares for a low price from a quilter about thirty years ago.

The second apron was significantly more work, yet it was really fun to create it. I used a retro pillowcase my mother had embroidered years ago, a few pieces of vintage linens and some small pieces of fabric, or patches of embroidery to cover stains, or spots, where the fabric was wearing thin on the blue vintage piece in the center of the apron.  I was very pleased with the lovely collaged look of the final outcome of the project. I have a history of enjoying making collages so that part came naturally to me. The corner pieces in the apron that are patchwork quilted is from a fair in Pennsylvania, where I bought several of those squares for a low price from a quilter about thirty years ago.

I hope you enjoyed this post about making these lovely aprons. I certainly enjoyed making them, and Emily will enjoy having them. I want to make a couple for myself now! I need to go hunting for more vintage pieces to add to what I have!

 

  All photos by Marilyn Lavender.  All written material by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”

Street Art of the Lower East Side NYC

I thought I’d bring some street art from New York City and New Jersey to you this spring and summer. This first post has pictures of New York Street art from the Lower East Side of the East Village. Every time I walk around there are always people around the First Avenue Park and lots of them are having their picture taken with the street art, or just taking pictures of it. Street Art really livens up the scenery outside and draws a lot of attention. The Huffington Post even mentioned that the popularity of street art assists in driving up real estate prices, since people currently feel that it is a colorful addition to a neighborhood. This means no more sneaking around to paint a mural like in the 1970’s or early 1980’s for street artists.  Artists are traveling the world to do murals and have their work recognized in various places. I think it is great that street art is more accepted and therefore available to be appreciated.

I was a bit annoyed to see that subway cars are now being used for ladies’ lingerie and underwear advertisements. It is a shame they took away all the street art on the subways and now are replacing some of it with these advertisements. New York Subways do have great art underground and I will go into some of that in another post. There are loads of stations with wonderful art and mixed in with this blog on urging you to rewind, reduce and recycle I like to share some other artistic things I enjoy with you.

Some of the pictures I had to take at a distance, one through a fence (the one of the woman that says Miss Behave). Some had no signatures, or at least not that I could easily see. I did find information online about several of the artists.

The Belgian artist Roa Metazoa, painted the lovely bird that is on the East Village mural on East 2nd Street between the Bowery and 2nd Avenue. The website http://streetartnyc.org/   has more information and pictures of his artwork. Apparently he has an exhibit at the Jonathan LeVine art gallery at 529 West 20th Street in New York, NY. The exhibit runs through May 2nd, 2015.

Mural by Roa Metazoa

The constructions bins for collecting waste from construction sites were decorated by a variety of street artists. There was a large one of these bins right behind the park on 1st Avenue. Matthew Denton Burrows has a Master degree in Illustration from The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He has a website at: http://dentonburrows.com/index.php/text/work

I was particularly intrigued by the lively pink Pidgindoll, which is a fashion icon created by a NY Illustrator, Joshua David McKenney. He has become a doll maker as well and his dolls have a lovely, classic look. On his website:www.pidgindoll.com/ he carries a line of his paper dolls, which I was pleased to see since paper dolls are not as popular as they once were when I was a child. He also creates a line of boudoir dolls, which was a popular item in the 1920’s. So McKenney has a flair for vintage classics.

NS/BC is a collaboration of illustration done by Nicole Salger and Chuck Berrett. They have a website at: http://nscb.tumblr.com

I really like the polar bear in the blue water.  I have no idea who painted in since they only put their initials.  The young lady peering down into her coffee cup is a mural I found further down in the Little Italy area of Manhattan.

The lovely statute of the lady holding a fish is in front of Urban Archaeology down in Tribeca, on the West Side, near where I usually go kayaking in the summer. I just wanted to insert that picture too for a bit of eclectic variety. Once summer arrives I will have stories of the kayaking on the river , which is free and one of my favorite things to do in NYC since I am a lady on a budget!!! In the event that you live here and are interested, or are visiting soon you can get all equipment needed from the NY Boat House for free as long as you can swim. They lend you the kayak and paddles, life jacket and as long as you sign a waiver and can swim you can go kayak in the river. I see a lot of wonderful sites walking around before and after kayaking and will share them with you this summer.

I hope you enjoy this post.  Also I imagine you are getting out and enjoying spring where ever you are.  It is a lovely time to get out and walk around, bike ride, hike and enjoy street art!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  All material & photos written taken by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”

My Three Crocheted Owl Families

I crocheted these owls when I was burying myself in crocheting for a year awhile back. I have been saving getting to this post but I ran into a bout of fatigue, caused by eating some healthy foods that were not so good for my thyroid. So now I am trying to get back on track, although I am still a bit exhausted, so I am basically lying low. Kind of like the story of Brer Rabbit when he was hiding in the bushes. I have been busy with a full time temporary position, that possibly will go to hire and my plate is rather full at this moment.

My mother is very fond of owls. Therefore I got the idea to crochet her a family of owl figures. I did it by eye, without a pattern. The parents take so much time! I added felt backings on them and hand stitched the edges. After that I did a mother and daughter owl for my daughter, Emily. Later on I did another family of owls for a friend. The children do not take quite as long as the parents, since they are much smaller. Plus I did not crochet their eyes since they are so small. I like all of the owls but I particularly like the little one with a Mohawk hair style. That is the little camel colored one.  They are stuffed with polyester fiberfill.

I was going through a really rough time when I started crocheting almost daily. It broke everything down to one stitch at a time. It really did soothe my soul and I have to say when I stopped crocheting every day for a few months it was difficult again. I now seem to have a better balance going on so I do not feel like I have to crochet. I would like to do more crocheting at some point. I think it is very relaxing and really keeps one occupied on long flights. It also is great while waiting for doctor appointments if they tend to keep one waiting a long time. So far I haven’t crocheted any other animals and I have never done an animal by a pattern. I am not sure I have ever done any crocheting by pattern really.  I have listened to and watched videos and under those circumstances I did what they said. Actually reading a pattern and crocheting from it would be a learning curve for me. My heart and hook lead me to crochet these owls and several scarves. Of course there were a couple of times I crocheted myself into an idea I did not know how to really do and had to unravel and simplify. All in all it was fun.

Well I hope you like my little owls. They aren’t perfect, yet neither are we. I will hopefully get another post out within a few days after I continue to try to focus on getting my energy back to normal.

crocheted owl families

crocheted owl families

Pictures from Boulder, Ny etc 251

Pictures from Boulder, Ny etc 252

 

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All material written and photos taken by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”