Wendell Rodricks began his career in fashion after a successful tenure in hotel management. Trained in Los Angeles and Paris, he returned to India in 1988. After a brief span of two years, designing and styling for reputed companies such as Garden Vareli, cosmetic giant Lakme and diamond corporate DeBeers, Wendell Rodricks established his own label in 1990. He moved to his ancestral village in Goa in 1993, creating memorable collections each season inspired by many emotions : Tibetan Monastries, Tribal symbols of Shiva and Vishnu, the Harem at Istanbul, Tattoos of the Lambadi tribe, Clothing the Soul and the internationally unique VISIONNAIRE collection transferring Braille onto fabric for the visually challenged.
The first Indian designer invited to display his garments at the world’s largest garment fair in the world at IGEDO, Dusseldorf, Wendell Rodricks has been actively involved in all areas of fashion : lecturing on World Costume History, writing for the country’s leading womens magazine, Chairman of the courses committee at the Board of Technical Education appointed by the Government of Goa and member Advisory Board of Fashion Institutes and Lakme Fashion Week. Patron of the Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust, Goa to promote hand spun Khadi and retailing at the country’s best stores including the celebrated Wendell Rodricks Design Space in Panjim.
A keen art patron and promoter of Goan talent, Wendell Rodricks has lent his support to local education, cultural associations, the Red Cross, the Alliance Francaise in Goa and the fashion industry. He has designed uniforms for the Goa State Traffic Police, the Four Seasons, the Goa Marriott Resort, the Vasco Sports Club football team and the staff of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, besides styling the international advertisements for Wellspun, Delsey, SWATCH Bijoux, Breguet and Raymond Weil.
Wendell Rodricks has put the tiny Indian state of Goa firmly on the fashion map. He researched the history of Goan costume as part of a programme that has involved interning at the National Costume Museum in Lisbon and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The designer is presently writing a book based on this research, to document Goa’s clothing tradition.