Plot

Sex Fashion and Disco is a documentary film concerning Antonio Lopez (1943-1987), the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s Paris and New York, and his colorful and sometimes outrageous milieu.

In Paris and New York, between 1969 and 1973, Antonio Lopez became the dominant fashion illustrator of the time. His drawings where not simply recordings but renderings which inspired. His story is told through the lives of his colorful and some- times outrageous milieu. Antonio was a native of Puerto Rico and raised in The Bronx by a father who manufactured mannequins and who believed himself to be psychic and a mother who made dresses. Antonio was a seductive arbiter of style and glamour who, beginning in the 1960s, brought elements of the urban street and ethnicity to bear on a postwar fashion world desperate for change and diversity. Counted among Antonio's discoveries, muses of the period, were unusual beauties such as Cathee Dahmen, Grace Jones, Pat Cleveland, Tina Chow, Jessica Lange, Jerry Hall and Warhol Superstars Donna Jordan, Jane Forth and Patti D'Arbanville among others. Antonio's inner circle in New York during this period was also comprised of his personal and creative partner, Juan Ramos, also Puerto Rican-born and raised in Harlem, makeup artist Corey Tippin and photographer Bill Cunningham, among others. Lower Manhattan in the late 1960s was a cauldron of creative talent, extremely selective, but inclusive of and tolerant to the seemingly disparate creative camps that cut a broad swath through culture; music, fashion, the visual arts, film and entertainment. Cunningham got Lopez a six-room studio at Carnegie Hall. Lopez met many of his cohorts at the Parsons school of Art and Design or in Central Park. They would dance the night away at Max's Kansas City. Lopez was very magnetic and bisexual in a time when drug use, free sex was thought to be a liberating experience. Juan Ramos was Antonio's partner. He served as his artistic producer and the refiner of Antonio's raw talent. He was more intense and serious than Antonio. Both were students at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York who were plucked out a couple years later by Women's Wear Daily after seeing their drawings. Later they worked for the New York Times and Vogue. Their relationship was somewhat volatile. When one wanted to work, one wanted to dance. They charmed fashion editors and pushed deadlines so that their work could not be changed. Charles James lived with an obese Beagle at the Chelsey Hotel and Antonio drew many of his collections there. Cunningham recounts a story where a dress had been created that no one had the hips for, so Antonio left the studio and got a hustler off the street to model. Then he created a masterpiece drawing. At times, Antonio would suffer a mental block. He would call a psychiatrist who would hypnotize him over the phone to release it. The blocks were believed caused by the many complicated sexual affair that Antonio involved himself in. At Max's Kansas City, there was a corner for Antonio Lopez corner for himself and his entourage and a corner for Andy Warhol as well. Antonio and Andy had a professional relationship as both worked as illustrators for fashion magazines. Antonio's girls were not necessary classic beauties but encompassed many types of girls all of whom had a certain confidence, sexuality, and exuberance. There career often took them well beyond the world of fashion in acting, singing and writing. Many of his models had a crush on Antonio. Modeling is a sensuous activity and Antonio was engaging and flirtatious. Antonio was addicted to sex, bisexual with a decided preference for men, but there was no boundaries for him in his sexuality. In 1969, Antonio and Juan embark on a transformative journey to Paris, itself in the midst of radical social and cultural change. Ostensibly visiting to sketch the latest collections by the fashion house, Chloe, they become fast friends with designer Karl Lagerfeld who installs them in one of his Rive Gauche apartments where they form an improbable, though highly creative and erotically charged collaboration. Many Chloe clothing prints in their collection were inspired by Antonio and Juan. Use of ethnic models became more commonplace. It is the beginning of the period marked by the decline of classic couture and the nascent rise of prêt-á-porter or ready-to-wear; a development that would upend the existing aristocratic hierarchy thus making fashion designers and their entourages the rock stars of a new seventies society. There was an intimate relationship between Antonio, his entourage and Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld's rival was Yves Saint Laurent whose relationships with his followers was more like a family who all needed each other to succeed. Antonio moved freely between the two groups. The demimonde lifestyle included homosexuality, club life and blurred gender lines. Days are spent working feverishly to create the latest new looks while the principal characters become late night habitués of Club Sept where they writhe and rub bodies until dawn. Many describe the "innocence" and "purity" of this particular moment of freedom where everything seemed possible and attainable. It was at Club Sept, Antonio Lopez discovered Jerry Hall and created her fame and started a relationship. Antonio and Jerry did a photo shoot in Jamaica. Jerry, who was very glamorous arrived in a full-length fur coat. The photo shoot portrayed Jerry and Antonio as an engaged couple. They stayed in the honeymoon suite at their resort hotel. The photo shoot featured a chapel and wedding. Antonio and Jerry wanted to believe they were engaged, but their relationship dissipated over time. The entourage spent summers with Karl Lagerfeld in Saint-Tropaz. The third such summer escapade, Karl introduced jacques DeBascher as his lover. Jacques was the source of difficulties and seemed to have no particular talent of his own. Still, the getaways were memorable as decadent and free, liberating experiences. Andy Warhol came to Paris to make a film L'Amour. In the movie, two American hippies search for sex and romance in Paris but, mainly, rich husbands. The eyebrow-less Jane Forth and the gap-toothed Donna Jordan, appeared alongside Karl Lagerfeld. Juan and Antonio most likely also would have been in the movie except they had gone off to Japan for a project. In Japan, Antonio and Juan worked with two American models, including Tina Chow. They introduced Tina to restauranteur and artist Michael Chow who they knew from London. Tina and Michael eventually got married. Later Tina would contract AIDS, a scourge that would unravel the group over time. In 1982, Antonio Lopez discovered he had AIDS and every he did was seeking a cure Karl Lagerfeld refused to give Antonio any more work because he was concerned the job would not be finished, Near the end of his life, Antonio drew for Oscar de la Renta who was more compassionate. Antonio succumbed to the disease in March of 1987. Juan Ramos would die of AIDS eight years later. 5*