Wendell Rodricks: From being a hotel management graduate to helping Deepika Padukone enter Bollywood - here are some lesser known facts about the designer

Renowned fashion designer Wendell Rodricks passed away on February 12 at his residence in Goa’s Colvale village. The 59 year old Bollywood designer was also known for his contribution towards several causes and donned many hats beyond that of fashion. He had shifted base to Goa since years and worked his way to earning fame as a fashion designer. Here’s taking a look at a few lesser known facts about Wendell Rodricks.

Wendell Rodricks hailed from Mumbai and had enrolled himself at a catering institute in the city. He reportedly wanted to get a job abroad and has resided in locations like Oman and Muscat, after finally making it to Los Angeles where he indulged in fashion and set on a new career path. In an interview with a daily Wendell had stated that after he completed his graduation in hotel management, he got his first job as Assistant Director of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) Officers Club in Muscat in 1982.

In an interview with a magazine, Wendell Rodricks had reminisced about his first collection which was of 12 ensembles of which only six were complete because he didn’t have enough money to make 12 bottoms, nor did he had enough to buy shoes for the models. So the designer stated that his models had walked bare feet and the first six would remove their bottoms and hand it over to the next six to walk the ramp on their turn.

Interestingly, Wendell Rodricks had an important part to play in Deepika Padukone’s big Bollywood launch. In an interview with a magazine the designer had stated that Farah Khan had asked Malaika Arora to suggest a model to star opposite Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Om Shanti Om’. At one of his shows, he told Malaika that the first girl he was sending out was the one he was recommending and it was Deepika Padukone. Malaika liked her and conveyed it to Farah and the rest as they say is history.

Rodricks had launched his label in 1989 and was a pioneer when it came to eco-fashion, vegetable dyeing and farming cotton. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 2014 and in 2015, he was bestowed with the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters ) for his contribution to the fashion industry. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, there was a rumour that the late designer was up for a Padma Bhushan honour next year.