Designer Wendell Rodricks' top Bollywood controversies

Designer Wendell Rodricks, who died in his home in Goa on February 12, never shied away from speaking his mind. From taking a swipe at Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s choice of wardrobe to Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ revealing gown at the recent Grammy’s, Rodricks made sure that he made his opinions known to the world.

As Roderick is mourned by India’s fashion fraternity and fans alike, we look at some of the scandals that he had unwittingly stirred:

January 2020: In a post that could easily be deduced at sarcastic, the designer took to his Instagram page to critique Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ revealing Ralph & Russo gown that had a plunging neckline until her navel. He felt that the gown was age-inappropriate. “@priyankachopra nailed it at the Grammys 2020. Truly the bold and beautiful in this @ralphandrusso couture fringed gown where the neckline goes all the way from LA to Cuba. Love it.”

Many did not take kindly to his post and found it unnecessarily scathing and sexist. Seeing the negative press around him, Rodericks was prompted to issue a clarification with: “For all those that said some really nasty things about me body shaming, here is my retort. Did I say anything about her body? No. Many women did. I just said the dress was wrong for her despite it being couture. It was more dress shaming than body shaming. Stop this sermon from high and read the post before you speak,” he wrote.

He went on to add, “There is an age to wear some clothes. Men with huge bellies should not wear tight T shirts. Same with women who wear minis past a certain age. If you don’t have it, don’t flaunt it. I stopped wearing Bermudas as I have a few varicose veins. Don’t make every issue body shaming, sexist or whatever. Or you can be false and fake resorting to being politically correct and not be truthful. If you don’t like my posts unfriend me.”

Rodricks Vs Aishwarya Rai Bachchan October 2019: Rodricks lashed out at Rai Bachchan’s stylists for dressing her in a sack at last year’s Paris Fashion Week. He posted a collage of her looks on Instagram and wrote: “@loreal you’ve got one of many prettiest ladies on this planet and that is the way you do her make-up and gown her? Sack the stylist for this sack gown with a notice that Halloween is subsequent month.”