Wendell Rodricks

Wendell Rodricks
Born India Goa
Nationality Indian
Occupation Fashion designer
Website www.wendellrodricks.com

Wendell Rodricks is an Indian fashion designer based in the western Indian region of Goa. He has been listed among one of India's top ten designers.[1][2] He is also an activist for social causes, the environment, and gay rights, being himself a homosexual.[3] In 2014, Government of India conferred upon him its fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.[4]

Career

Rodricks was born into a Goan catholic family. He grew up in Mumbai and attended St. Michael's High School in Mahim. After completing school, he took a graduate diploma in catering. However, he did not pursue that profession but moved to fashion designing.[5]

He also acted in a film named Boom in 2003 and made an appearance in the television play True West in 2002. Also, he played a cameo as himself in the film Fashion. His work has involved a wide range of fashion—from lecturing on world costume history to fashion journalism and styling for international advertising campaigns.

Rodricks was the first India designer to be invited to IGEDO (the world's largest garment fair);[6] and the first Indian designer to open the Dubai Fashion Week.

Rodricks lives in Colvale village of North Goa and since 1993 he has gained the reputation for sending out creative collections for each fashion season. He has argued that it is a remarkable feat for a designer who despite living in a small village can still manage to direct the fashion trend for the country.

Rodricks has researched the theme of the history of the Goan costume for three years and interned at National Museum of Costume and Fashion in Lisbon and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City.

Rodricks has also argued that Indian clothes bear a strong influence from other parts of the globe. According to him, the Indian sari could be derived from Athenian dress, the West Chinese Kushans brought the jubba-coat and the pyjamas to India under Emperor Kanishka two thousand years ago, and the 'kurta' is a pure Moghul creation. He also argues that the Huns from Central Asia introduced the long cloaks and breeches-pyjamas. Arabs of the eighth and ninth centuries introduced skirts and robes.

The Goa-based fashion designer is critical of attempts to make beauty pageants "more in line with our culture" and what he has termed a xenophobic attitude to even simple fund-raising events which are "not part of our culture".

Personal

Wendell Rodricks is openly gay in a country where same-sex fornication is prohibited by law. He is married to Jerome Marrel in a civil ceremony in Paris. He met Marrel in Oman, in 1988, thanks to a friend, who set them up. Rodricks credits Marrel for his success as a fashion designer, in his biography, The Green Room. [7]

Rodricks is a catholic. He is the godfather Arhaan Khan, the son of the film-maker Arbaaz Khan and his wife Malaika Arora and the nephew of superstar Salman Khan. Rodricks played a large role in forming the career of Malaika Arora Khan, a fellow catholic, and remains close to her and her family.

Activism

Rodricks has written a column in the Goa-based monthly Goa Today, where he has often raised issues of social concerns and the environment. Outlook magazine [8] commented that Wendell Rodricks Turns Into Environmental Activist. He has also spoken out against the IRFW (India Resort Fashion Week) as it "damages the environment". [9]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Who are the Top 10 Fashion Designers of India?". MapsofIndia. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "10 Best Fashion Designers of India". Pahal Design.
  3. ↑ Interview promoting The Green Room
  4. 1 2 "Padma Shri to Wendell Rodricks would help LGBT Community in India". IANS. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Sita Menon (18 July 2003). "Fashion is not important: Wendell Rodricks". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  6. ↑ "Wendell Rodricks: Profile", Fashion Design Council of India, 2007, retrieved 17 March 2010
  7. ↑ Sathya, Saran (13 November 2012). "He's quite an activist: Jerome Marrel on his partner, Wendell Rodricks". Firstpost. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/wendell-rodricks-turns-into-environmental-activist/776987
  9. ↑ http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/fashion/article1289403.ece
  10. ↑ "Padma Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
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