Re: Convoluted article on Wendell Rodricks
The fullest account is probably:
Headline: Indian designer war spills out in Colombo
By Namrata Sharma Zakaria
Source: Indian Express 17 Feb. 2006 at
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=88070
Sub-title: Wendell Rodricks says Delhi fashion house's MD got him stopped
from going on ramp, Satya Paul's Kapoor denies it
Full text:
An unpleasant sideshow of Indian fashion industry unfolded in Colombo last
week. Goan Wendell Rodricks, who was invited to a local fashion show on
Saturday, was stopped when he was about to go on the ramp and take a bow. He
was physically held back by the president of Rotary Club of Colombo East,
Cida Subramaniam, and allegedly told, ''If you go on the ramp, you'll be
bumped off on the way to the airport. This is Sri Lanka, you know.''
Rodricks says the Rotary official did it at the behest of Delhi-based
fashion house Satya Paul's MD, Sanjay Kapoor. ''Sanjay was making life
difficult for the organisers saying his label and Deepika Gehani's should be
the only two showing,'' says Rodricks. Rodricks, who eventually pushed aside
the bouncers and went on stage, adds: ''I saw Kapoor jump out of seat at
seeing me, like a bat out of hell, and storm out.''
Kapoor denies the allegations. ''This is Greek to me, I didn't know any of
this happened. If Wendell was manhandled, he shouldn't have been. The
organisers were very unprofessional, none of our commitments were
fructified,'' he says.
Rodricks was invited by Chennai boutique, Studio Saks, to present in
Colombo. Other designers invited were Shane and Falguni Peacock, Neeta Lulla
and Anna Singh. Satya Paul and Gehani (her label is owned by Satya Paul)
were told that the charity fashion show would showcase clothes by several
Sri Lankan designers with the finale by Gehani, and that no other Indian
designer would be present.
Gehani says: ''I have emails from the organisers stating the flow of events
and that we'd be the only ones showing... We only asked the organisers to do
the event the way it was meant to be.''
''Initially, we had asked only Gehani to do the show for us,'' clarifies
Sumeeta Radha of the Sri Lankan Rotary. ''But Rodricks has a large fan base
in Colombo and we wanted to bring him down as well. We presumed the
designers would understand once they were here, and didn't think things
would get out of hand.''
Radha confirms Kapoor was against any other designer showing and Rodricks
taking the ramp. ''As for Subramaniam, he was under the influence of alcohol
and regretful. He even apologised to Rodricks later.''
Model Anchal Kumar was aghast at the treatment meted to Rodricks and refused
to model for Gehani's ensuing collection. ''I don't want to comment but I
did what I thought was the right thing,'' she says.
Another model, Mridula Chandrashekhar says: ''It was neither a competition
nor a paid show, people should have left their egos at home.''
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 5:10 AM
Subject: [Goanet] Sunday papers... some Goa links
Another article in the SUNDAY Times of India (the paper I love to
hate... it has changed the idea of what newspapers are so drastically,
but you still can't afford to miss its adverts!) has this rather
convoluted article on Wendell Rodricks, about a February 10 event in
Colombo but written from Mumbai.
It begins thus: "The fashion world is in a state of shock. The attack on
designer Wendell Rodricks at a fashion show in Colombo on February 10
has left a bad taste in the mouths of the glad-rag brigade."
After reading two-thirds of the piece, one lears that it probably was
some rivalry between designers... or something to that effect.
Apparently some designers had been invited to showcase their work at a
charity event coordinated by a (?) Sumita Radhakrishna from Colombo on
behalf of the Rotary Club of Colombo East.
Maybe one is just missing something here!
