When Will The West Look Beyond India S Rickshaws Elephants And Marigolds

Got ₹35 lakh to drop on a man purse, and also want to appear tone deaf? Let Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Spring/Summer 2026 accessory be the way to do it. Their Rickshaw Wearable Wallet is crafted from canvas, with a cowhide-leather trim and golden hardware. It features a little licence plate, front window, and wheels. And it’s just big enough to hold a phone and a tablet.It is also the newest episode in the ongoing drama we’re calling West Hijacks India. In April, Russian photographer Julia Buruleva drew criticism from animal-rights activists after she painted a 65-year-old elephant pink (from trunk to toe) for a photo shoot in Jaipur. We’ve lived through Prada selling Kolhapuri chappals, websites recasting the dupatta as a Scandinavian scarf, retailers tagging kurtis as “Ibiza summer dresses”. Ralph Lauren models wore jhumkas at Paris Fashion Week this year. And guess what’s not available on Indian beauty sites? Prada’s Chai perfume. Fashion rarely cares about citing its sources. Remember Chanel’s pre-autumn/winter 2012-13 collection? The title was Paris-Bombay. But by Bombay, Karl Lagerfeld meant Rajasthan-remix: Brocade pants, fur-lined zari coats, maang teekas, strands of pearls, mirrorwork-trimmed tweed, velvet frocks. “It’s the Paris version of the idea of India,” Lagerfeld told the press. He never visited India.Indians, on the other hand, are changing Chanel. Kolhapur-born Leena Nair took over as Global CEO in 2022. Architecture graduate Bhavitha Mandava was scouted on the New York subway and is now a runway model for the brand. Indians are heading tech firms, picking up Oscars and Grammys. They deserve more than being pigeonholed into an inlay box. Most international artists only care for the souvenir-shop idea of India. Did we put Coldplay on trial for Hymn For The Weekend? Almost 11 years ago, the band shot the music video in Mumbai and Vasai. This is the era when Mumbai had a buzzy energy, a new sea bridge, rooftop bars, a sick party scene. But Chris Martin and the gang filmed peacocks, ruins, sadhus, Holi celebrations, temple spires, bioscopes, puppeteers, taxis, and a fire-breather. Oh, they also covered Beyoncé in brocade, sequins and a naqaab – a jewellery piece more popular in West Asian countries. One small song for a band, a giant step backwards for India.Ten years later, when they returned as a part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour, Palestinian singer Elyanna was their supporting act. Audiences in Mumbai and Ahmedabad ate up her Arabic rendition of Deewani Mastani. But here’s what she put in the unofficial video: Herself in a dupatta and heavy Indian jewellery, running around Colaba’s touristy stalls. Sigh. We know that the Beatles did it first. They visited Rishikesh in 1968, learning meditation and eventually producing The White Album. We know that Led Zeppelin didn’t go to Kashmir; their 1975 hit is inspired by a drive through… Morocco. We know that Aerosmith’s (quite terrible)1997 song, Taste Of India, was not born out of a trip here, but because the band saw an American restaurant by that name.But it’s 2026. Why persist in these cliches? Gorillaz avoided them in March, when they released their much-awaited comeback album, The Mountain, advertised with its Hindi counterpart, Parvat. The project collaborated with Anoushka Shankar, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash and Asha Bhosle (her last project). Both the sound and the visuals felt seamless – art that drew from various sources and yet felt like it was a brand new thing. So, it’s possible to do. And as more artists and creators draw from India, they’re realising that they can’t pick motifs at random and profit from them. Tyla collaborated with designer Nancy Tyagi last year for a graceful, shimmery dress. When she performed at the Indian Sneaker Festival, she added a bindi and extensions that spelt MUMBAI. No elephants were pinked up in the making of this art.From HT Brunch, June 27, 2026Follow us on