Hindu Activist Calls Louis Vuitton’s Cowhide Leather Yoga Mat Hugely Insensitive

Meditative stretching takes on a sleek bent with the Louis Vuitton Yoga Mat. But the French Maison has found itself in trouble after upset Hindus called the luxury fashion house for using cowhide leather to construct its recently released Yoga Mat.

Hindu religious statesman, activist and President of Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, called the €1600 ($2,390 USD) luxury item ‘highly inappropriate’. Noting that the yoga mat seemed and offending two serious concepts of Hinduism – cows and yoga – and is hugely insensitive to Hindu feelings.

Rajan Zed also highlighted how wrong performing yoga, a profound, sacred and ancient discipline introduced by Hinduism, on a mat made from a killed cow is. “A sacred and long venerated animal of the religion, is a case of ‘religious appropriation’. Marking the Yoga Mat as sacrilege and an item that ridicules serious spiritual practices of an entire community”.

Rajan Zed is calling for Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) CEO Bernard Arnault, Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke and Louis Vuitton Executive Vice President Delphine Arnault to issue a formal apology and pull the item as it goes against its the concept of ethical responsibility included in the company’s ‘Acting Responsibly and with Social Awareness’ section of its Code of Conduct.

Louis Vuitton has not yet issued a statement regarding the outrage over its Yoga Mat. Come into the world of Louis Vuitton.

Artist Edition of Dior’s J’adore L’Absolu

Dior: “A magical name that blends the words God (Dieu) and gold (or)”, said Jean Cocteau to qualify Christian Dior’s last name.

Christian Dior loved gold, festive and luxurious, and incorporated it in his creations. Today, gold still has a privileged place in the Maison and Parfums Christian Dior pays tribute to this iconic color.​

A special hand made edition of Christian Dior’s J’adore L’absolu will be launched. With a flacon to fit the exceptional contents, the new look of the fragrance has been made public by Delphine Arnault, member of the board of directors of LVMH, and world-renowned French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel.

Inspired by the Kayan Lahwi tribes, the flacon flaunts thin gold lines in the shape of a necklace. The look comes from the tribe’s women’s tradition of individualizing themselves by elongating their necks by the use of neck coils stacked upon each other.

Jean-Michel Othoniel came up with a fascinating way of expressing a woman’s freedom to wear whatever she pleases. The loosened constraints of the necklace, featured on the flacon in the shape of an unraveling glass thread, symbolize lack of limits, love of life and infinity.

Othoniel’s Artist Edition is limited to only 300 pieces and is available at the price of $3,500.

Each flacon that will be made is going to be truly unique, as it will be hand-made by the famous glassmakers of Murano. Gold leaf flecks will be melted into the molten glass of the bead and the wire that adorn the flacon. The symbolism and beauty of the flacon makes it a veritable jewel, precious and able to make a statement, as the designer himself said.

With Indian tuberose, Damask rose and Arabian Jasmine, the scent of the fragrance is floral, sensual and intense. The three hundred of the Othoniel’s Artist Edition handblown Murano glass flacons are available world-wide can be acquired for $3,500 (which also includes three 15-milliliter refills).