40 Facts About Wendell Rodricks

Wendell Rodricks was an Indian fashion designer and author based in the Indian state of Goa.

Wendell Rodricks was an activist for social causes, environment and gay rights.

Wendell Rodricks was the eldest brother to Robin, Chester and Joel.

Wendell Rodricks grew up in Mahim and attended St Michael's High School in Mahim.

Wendell Rodricks began by using his savings to study fashion in Los Angeles and Paris.

Wendell Rodricks began his career in fashion by designing for Garden Vareli, Lakme Cosmetics and DeBeers.

Wendell Rodricks launched his own label in 1989 with his first show held at the Regal Room of the Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai.

Wendell Rodricks did not have enough funds for supplying all models with shoes or bottoms for their organza tunics.

Henceforth, Wendell Rodricks' work involved a wide range of fashion, from lecturing on world costume history to fashion journalism and styling for international advertising campaigns.

Wendell Rodricks was the first Indian designer to be invited to IGEDO in 1995; the first Indian designer to open the Dubai Fashion Week in 2001; and was invited to present at the Paris Fashion Week Pret a Porter salon in 2007.

Wendell Rodricks was a fellow design member of the Fashion Design Council of India.

Wendell Rodricks was known for pioneering the idea of resort wear and for advocating eco-friendly fashion.

Wendell Rodricks convinced Pratibha Patil, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to be its patrons, thus increasing the cost from a meagre Rs.

Wendell Rodricks was a part of the khadi movement, and even promoted it at the world's largest organic fair, BioFach, at Nuremberg, Germany, in 2011 when he was invited there.

Wendell Rodricks helped Deepika Padukone, who had been modelling with him for roughly two years then, grab her role in Om Shanti Om by recommending her to Malaika Arora, who in turn recommended her to Farah Khan in 2007.

Wendell Rodricks helped Anushka Sharma, launching her as a model in his 2007 Les Vamps Show at the Lakme Fashion Week and encouraged her to move to Mumbai when she was just 18 years old.

Wendell Rodricks handed over creative control to his student, Schulen Fernandes, who first worked with him in 1999.

Wendell Rodricks made cameo appearances in the 2003 film Boom and in the television play True West in 2002.

Wendell Rodricks contributed to journals of travel and art, and wrote about food, especially Goan cuisine.

Later in 2012, Wendell Rodricks released his autobiography, titled The Green Room.

From 1993 on Wendell Rodricks resided in a 450-year-old house in Colvale, named "Casa Dona Maria".

Wendell Rodricks worked on collecting exhibits for it since 1998, when he began his research into Goa's costumes and clothing.

Wendell Rodricks had since collected 800 exhibits, ranging from an original pano bhaju, to Reita Faria's bathing suit, to an apsara found in a nearby field dating to a Buddhist monastery from the 7th century.

Wendell Rodricks wrote a column in the Goa-based monthly Goa Today, where he often raised issues of social concerns and the environment.

Wendell Rodricks spoke out against the IRFW in 2012 stating that it "damages the environment".

Wendell Rodricks had previously closed one of his boutiques in a resort owned by a mine owner, in protest of the illegal mining in Goa.

Wendell Rodricks unsuccessfully campaigned against the cutting down of six mango trees to make a highway in Colvale, citing that they were more than 200 years old.

Wendell Rodricks was a patron of the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, the annual LGBTQ film festival in Mumbai, and instituted an award for Best Poster Design in 2012 and continued to support the award every year.

Wendell Rodricks picked the winning entry every year as the Honorary Judge, with his keen aesthetic eye.

In December 2016, Wendell Rodricks displayed his collection of the history of Goan costumes at the Serendipity Arts Festival.

In 2018, Wendell Rodricks accused Payal Khandwala, whom he had previously mentored, of copying his technique of pleating the fabric.

Wendell Rodricks was actively homosexual since he was 19 years old, and formalized his relationship with a wealthy French businessman named Jerome Marrel in a Civil solidarity pact in Paris in 2002.

Wendell Rodricks had met Marrel in Oman through a friend who set them up while Rodricks was working there for the Royal Oman Police Officers Club in 1983.

Wendell Rodricks credited Marrel for his success as a fashion designer, in his autobiography, The Green Room.

Wendell Rodricks lived and worked in Bombay until the 1993 Bombay bombings, following which he moved with his partner Marrell and their pet dogs to his ancestral village of Colvale in Goa.

Wendell Rodricks donated towards the improvement of the village and started a scholarship for the toppers of the schools of the village, in memory of his parents.

Wendell Rodricks was raised Roman Catholic, but his same-sex relationship incurred automatic excommunication.

Wendell Rodricks was the godfather of Arhaan Khan, the son of the film-maker Arbaaz Khan and his ex-wife Malaika Arora.

Wendell Rodricks played a large role in forming the career of Arora and remained close to her and her family.

Wendell Rodricks died on 12 February 2020 at his residence in Colvale, Goa, at the age of 59.