Wendell Rodricks no more; Anushka Sharma, Malaika Arora and others pay rich tributes

News of Wendell Rodricks' death on Wednesday came as a shock to most in the Indian fashion fraternity. Considered as a pioneer in the Indian fashion scene, Rodricks had influenced and inspired many to take up a career in the fashion world. 

Malaika Arora, who was known to be one of Wendell's muse and had sashayed his designs on the ramp on several occasion, admitted she cried when she first heard the news of his untimely death. Arora then took to Instagram to post a photo of her and the late designer and wrote, "A master couturier and his muse our dearest @wendellrodricks .... I first sat n cried , n then I sat alone n smiled n laughed, jus thinkin of all the beautiful beautiful memories n moments we shared."

Fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee termed his death as a 'sad day in Indian fashion'. 

Masaba Gupta, who called Wendell her dad and her mentor, also shared photos and a video of the designer as she mourned his death. 

"What do I even say ? Lost a ‘proud-dad’ & my dear Sir. Can’t get myself to say goodbye in person today so will save that for another time when I see you on the other side."

Former models and now actors Arjun Rampal and Waluscha D'Souza also shared memories from the time they spent with the designer. 

Anushka Sharma in a heartfelt note revealed that it was Wendell who gave her the confidence to move to Mumbai and pursue a career in fashion. The actress also shared an image of the designer and her on the ramp. 

Maria Goretti wrote, "My dearest Wendell ..The angels will be all dressed up fashionably today ..Heaven is going to have a lot of song and dance ..You will forever be remembered, loved and missed .P.S. We Catholics who sang a lot, I will always love you Wendell."

Wendell breathed his last on Wednesday at his Goa residence. The designer was known as Goa`s style doyen and was instrumental in bringing the state's national handloom to the mainstream focus. 

Raised in Mumbai, Rodricks who moved to Goa several decades ago and anchored his signature fashion chores from his grand mansion in the idyllic riverside village of Colvale, lent his unique touch to several projects related to the state, be it creating a special uniform for the Goa Police or lending his creative touch to civic activism movements. The late designer is survived by his husband Jerome Marrel. His last rights are set to take place on Thursday.