Indian Fashion Designer Wendell Rodricks Dies At Goa Home

Wendell Rodricks, one of the most admired names in the fashion design industry globally, died at Colvale village residence in Goa on Wednesday. He was 59. Rodricks was also known as an activist who worked for social causes, an eco-warrior and author. He was awarded with Padma Shri in 2014 and was a recipient of Chevalier de I'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the order of arts and letters) in 2015.

Rodricks was born on May 28, 1960, into a Goan Catholic family. He began his career in fashion by designing for Garden Vareli, Lakmé Cosmetics and DeBeers. He was homosexual and married Jerome Marrel in a civil ceremony in Paris in 2002. He made cameo appearances in the 2003 film Boom and in the television play True West in 2002. He also played himself in the 2008 film Fashion.

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Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mapusa, Gajanan Prabhudesai confirmed the death of Rodricks. “The cause of his death is being ascertained and a police team has rushed to his residence for investigation," he said.

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted,” Deeply saddened to hear about the sudden demise of my very good friend and designer, Wendell Rodricks. His excellency in his work and skills are irreplaceable and shall always be cherished." "We will truly miss him. My heartfelt condolences to his family and dear ones," Rane added in the tweet.