Purple Style Labs Acquires Wendell Rodricks brand, plans omni-channel expansion

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 3, 2020

Fashion business and owner of Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop, Purple Style Labs, has acquired the late designer Wendell Rodricks’ eponymous brand and plans to launch an e-commerce store and flagship store in Goa.

Wendell Rodricks, a household name in Indian fashion, passed away in spring this year. The brand, led by head designer Schulen Fernandes, has been given a new boost through Purple Style Labs’ takeover, the business announced on Facebook. The business aims to launch a Wendell Rodricks e-commerce portal and a flagship store in Goa in the coming financial quarter. 
 
“Our thesis at PSL is that building a brand is a function of time and the success metric is having strong brand recognition,” Purple Style Labs’ founder and CEO, Abhishek Agarwal, told Vogue India.

“In our journey of two years of Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop acquisition, customers have often asked us if we sell Wendell Rodricks. Hence, the strong brand recall drove our decision.”
 
Purple Style Labs has large-scale expansion plans for the Wendell Rodricks brand. Following its upcoming launches, the business plans to open stores across major Indian cities and then take the brand to the international market.
 
“The plans are aggressive,” Purple Style Labs’ creative director Anjana Sharma told Vogue India. “So while I will be responsible for the overall business and day to day ops, I will also be a sounding board for Fernandes creatively- to ensure we stay true to the brand's DNA.”