The Green Room
WENDELL RODRICKS
No one
belongs here except beautiful mannequins, make-up and hair armies, dressers
culled from local fashion schools and the designer’s team. Should a hapless
tailor, steam-press man or technician cross the hallowed threshold of the green
room, he is greeted with flashing, angry kohled eyes and half-naked models
clutching their breasts and shrieking in unison: ‘Get out, get out! What the
hell is going on? Who the fuck is this guy? Bahar jao! Get out!’ The shocked
man, head at navel level of the six-foot divas, looks like a rabbit caught in a
Guantanamo Bay strobe.
‘[A] fine
writer with a very distinctive, natural voice... The Green
Room [is] a
riveting read.’
—Amitav Ghosh,
About the Book
Epicurean, travel addict, voracious reader, art appreciator,
astonishingly talented designer—Wendell Rodricks is a man who wears many hats.
From growing up in a ‘glorified Bombay chawl’ crowded with eccentrics, to
building homes in Muscat, Istanbul and the French Riviera; from quenching
childhood hunger pangs with water, to feasting on the canard au sang at La Tour
D’Argent in Paris; from falling in love with the man with whom he would sign a
civil union, to putting his ancestral land of Goa firmly on the global fashion
map; from being a novice in the hospitality industry, to exhibiting at
Pret-a-Porter Salon de Paris and IGEDO, Dusseldorf; from designing clothes for
his family, to dressing style icons such as Catherine Deneuve, Meg Ryan, Lisa
Ray and Freida Pinto—Wendell’s life has been an extraordinarily rich and
exciting one.
Peppered with wry observations and startling insights, The Green
Room is not just the story of one man but also of the evolution of the
Indian fashion industry over twenty-five years. It is both a deeply personal
journey and a window into the enchanting yet fickle world of the rich and the
famous, the beautiful and the neurotic, the gossips and the bores.
Candid, irreverent and unfailingly entertaining, this is a memoir of
the man who gave India minimalism, resort wear and eco-friendly clothing long
before these words became fashionable. It is a sparkling piece of writing that
tells the story of a fascinating life lived with unusual courage and
flair.
Siyahi has acted as Wendell's agents for both his books, The Green
Room and Moda Goa.
About the Author
Wendell Rodricks spent his childhood in Bombay and started his
working life in Muscat. He then moved to Los Angeles and Paris to study fashion
design and couture. He returned to India in 1988 and quickly gained repute as a
designer, working with renowned brands such as Garden Vareli, Lakme and De
Beers. He established his own label in 1990 and moved base in 1993 to Colvale,
Goa.
A pioneer in the world of Indian fashion, Wendell is considered one
of the most influential designers in the country and has received international
acclaim for his work. Wendell also writes about fashion and lectures on world
costume history. His book on the history of Goan costume, Moda Goa, was
published in 2012. He is passionate about art, music, literature, food, travel
and Goa’s environment.
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