Wendell Rodricks was born on 28th May 1960. He was an Indian Fashion Designer located in Goa. He was also an activist for social causes, the environment, and gay rights. In 2014 Government of India conferred upon him its fourth- highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
He grew up in Mumbai and completed his education there. He pursued his education in Los Angeles and Paris. He amazingly finished his education on his own savings and efforts. He has worked under many firms, some of them are like the National Museum of Costume and Fashion in Lisbon and another one is Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City.
Rodricks began his career in fashion by designing for garden Vareli, Lakme Cosmetics, and DeBeers. When in Paris with his first portfolio in hand, he was advised to put his own country in clothes and designs he was making. He launched his own label in 1989 with his first show held in Regal Room of the Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai. His first collection consisted of twelve ensembles. He was the first Indian designer to be invited to IGEDO (the world's largest garment fair) 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. He was a fellow design member of the Fashion Design Council of India. Rodricks was known for pioneering the idea of resort wear and for advocating eco-friendly fashion.
In 2010, he revived the traditional Goan attire of the Kunbi saree. He convinced Pratibha Patil, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to be its patrons, thus increasing the cost from a meager Rs.700 to more than Rs.7000, for the benefit of the weavers. He was also a part of the khaki movement, and even promoted it at the world's largest organic fair, BioTech, at Nuremberg, Germany, in 2011 when he was invited there. In 2017, he presented a collection for plus-size women at the Lakme Fashion Week in 2017.
In 2016, he announced his retirement from his label, to concentrate on his museum. He handed over creative control to his student, Schulen Fernandes, who first worked with him in 1999. Rodricks contributed to journals of travel and art and wrote about food, especially Goan Cuisine.
In 1998, Mario Miranda requested Rodricks to write a chapter on the history of the Pano Bhaju, a traditional outfit worn to perform the mando in Goa. This inspired Rodricks to research it in detail. He interned in Lisbon and New York City, learned the Portuguese language to be able to read relevant documents, and finally traced its history to the Silk route. He finally published the results of his years of research on Goa's costumes in his first book, Moda Goa: History and Style, in 2012.
Later in 2012, Rodricks released his autobiography, titled The Green Room. It came about as the result of a writing challenge by a fellow author. In 2017, he released Poskem: Goans in the Shadows. It is a work of fiction about poskem, the adopted children of well-off Goan families, who are never treated with respect, and in some cases are even victims of abuse. The book features illustrations by Mario Miranda
From 1993 on Rodricks resided in a 450-year old house in Colyale, named "Casa Dona Maria". In 2016, he and his husband moved to a smaller house nearby to convert the larger one into a museum of Goan fashion. Named the "Moda Goa Museum and Research Centre". The museum is now slated to open to the public in March 2020. Rodricks worked on collecting exhibits for it since 1998, when he began his research into Goa's costumes and clothing. He had since collected 800 exhibits, ranging from an original pano bhaju, to Reita Faris’s bathing suit (which won her the title of Miss World in 1966), to an apsara found in a nearby field dating to a Buddhist monastery from the 7th century.
Rodricks was also one of the speakers at TEDx Panaji 2019.
Rodricks died on 12 February 2020 at his home in Goa at the age of 59. On 13 February, he had been suffering from a prolonged illness.
He grew up in Mumbai and completed his education there. He pursued his education in Los Angeles and Paris. He amazingly finished his education on his own savings and efforts. He has worked under many firms, some of them are like the National Museum of Costume and Fashion in Lisbon and another one is Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City.
Rodricks began his career in fashion by designing for garden Vareli, Lakme Cosmetics, and DeBeers. When in Paris with his first portfolio in hand, he was advised to put his own country in clothes and designs he was making. He launched his own label in 1989 with his first show held in Regal Room of the Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai. His first collection consisted of twelve ensembles. He was the first Indian designer to be invited to IGEDO (the world's largest garment fair) 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. He was a fellow design member of the Fashion Design Council of India. Rodricks was known for pioneering the idea of resort wear and for advocating eco-friendly fashion.
In 2010, he revived the traditional Goan attire of the Kunbi saree. He convinced Pratibha Patil, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to be its patrons, thus increasing the cost from a meager Rs.700 to more than Rs.7000, for the benefit of the weavers. He was also a part of the khaki movement, and even promoted it at the world's largest organic fair, BioTech, at Nuremberg, Germany, in 2011 when he was invited there. In 2017, he presented a collection for plus-size women at the Lakme Fashion Week in 2017.
In 2016, he announced his retirement from his label, to concentrate on his museum. He handed over creative control to his student, Schulen Fernandes, who first worked with him in 1999. Rodricks contributed to journals of travel and art and wrote about food, especially Goan Cuisine.
In 1998, Mario Miranda requested Rodricks to write a chapter on the history of the Pano Bhaju, a traditional outfit worn to perform the mando in Goa. This inspired Rodricks to research it in detail. He interned in Lisbon and New York City, learned the Portuguese language to be able to read relevant documents, and finally traced its history to the Silk route. He finally published the results of his years of research on Goa's costumes in his first book, Moda Goa: History and Style, in 2012.
Later in 2012, Rodricks released his autobiography, titled The Green Room. It came about as the result of a writing challenge by a fellow author. In 2017, he released Poskem: Goans in the Shadows. It is a work of fiction about poskem, the adopted children of well-off Goan families, who are never treated with respect, and in some cases are even victims of abuse. The book features illustrations by Mario Miranda
From 1993 on Rodricks resided in a 450-year old house in Colyale, named "Casa Dona Maria". In 2016, he and his husband moved to a smaller house nearby to convert the larger one into a museum of Goan fashion. Named the "Moda Goa Museum and Research Centre". The museum is now slated to open to the public in March 2020. Rodricks worked on collecting exhibits for it since 1998, when he began his research into Goa's costumes and clothing. He had since collected 800 exhibits, ranging from an original pano bhaju, to Reita Faris’s bathing suit (which won her the title of Miss World in 1966), to an apsara found in a nearby field dating to a Buddhist monastery from the 7th century.
Rodricks was also one of the speakers at TEDx Panaji 2019.
Rodricks died on 12 February 2020 at his home in Goa at the age of 59. On 13 February, he had been suffering from a prolonged illness.
We Tasta Tribute Inn to such great personality with whole heartily.
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