Remo's album released... the Wendell way

Sandesh Prabhudesai
11 December 2001  

‘Winners don’t do different things, they do it differently’.

Wendell Rodricks, the name in fashion designing, proved the famous saying once again by putting up a spectacular fashion show, in a different style.

Picking up an occasion of second anniversary of the Goa Marriott Resort and release of a new album ‘India Beyond’ of his friend and pop star Remo Fernandes, Wendell unveiled his new collection CRAFTWORKS last week.

It was a unique show, where the prime attraction was the virtual green room put up on the stage itself, with the Arabian Sea waves hitting the resort in the background. The models started their catwalk from the ramp and walked down in front of the selective 500-strong audience sitting along the swimming pool.

"My friend and village-fellow Wendell will release my album, not by cutting the ribbon but in a different way", announced Remo, little before the show started. In the background of Remo’s new-age music – perfect for peaceful listening and far away from his usual pop – began the green room frenzy, experimented for the first time in India.

It was called ‘remo/wendell rodricks experiment’.

Malaika Arora, Sheetal Malhar, Lakshmi Menon, Nayanika Chatterjee, Fleur Xavier, Nina Manuel and Vidisha Pawate catwalked out of the Arabian Sea onto the studio set where Wendell and his staff sewed garments on stage.

The hectic activity in the ‘open green room’, where dresses were seen put up on hangers and models were getting ready in front of the mirrors with the help of make-up men, was worth watching.

Equally attractive was Wendell’s collection, inspired by Goa’s nature, monsoon, ethnicity, the Bondla zoo, toddy tapper, melodious Goan ‘dulpod’ and even the pollutant plastic bottle found littering at Baga beach.

Using a palette white, beige, black and pale blue, Wendell also surprised the audience with brilliant splashes of hot pink and orange. The fabrics used were just not double silk crepe, airy silk chiffon and heavy satin silk but even sheer fishing net, medical bandage and even brown flannel duster-cloths, used in Goan kitchen to strain cooked rice.

Among several luminaries who enjoyed the unique experience were also Shobha and Dilip De, Vijay Mallya, Farrokh Chothia, M V Kamath, Frank Simoes, Shyam Benegal and Gerson da Cunha, besides the Goan political bigwigs and local industrialists like Salgaoncars and Dempos.

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