Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton seems to have withdrawn yoga mat made from cowhide leather from sale on its website after Hindus protested against the product.
Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said in a statement on Tuesday, that this yoga mat seemed ridiculing and offending two serious concepts of Hinduism—cow and yoga.
“The scenario of yoga — a profound, sacred and ancient discipline introduced and nourished by Hinduism — being performed on a mat made from a killed cow is painful,” he said.
The company’s yoga mat, made mostly of canvas with leather details and a cowhide carrying strap, retails for USD 2,390 online.
When searched for “yoga mat” at various Louis Vuitton country websites in America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Middle East; results came out as: ‘Not Available’, ‘Out of stock’, etc.
The Universal Society of Hinduism, which is based in Reno, Nevada, has led several recent campaigns targeting what it considers the commercial misuse of sacred symbols. In August, online home goods giant Wayfair pulled a towel depicting the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha after the coalition objected.
Zed was backed by Christian, Jewish and Buddhist leaders and in a statement thanked Louis Vuitton for understanding the concerns of Hindu community.
He also mentioned that they were, however, still waiting for an apology from LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke and Louis Vuitton executive vice-president Delphine Arnault displaying seriousness about the LVMH vision of “ethical responsibility”. He also urged the company to remove if any of these yoga mats were still available at their brick-and-mortar stores and suggested that companies like LVMH should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity.
Louis Vuitton, is one of the 75 “houses” of LVMH headquartered in Paris, “a family-run group” which claims “world leader in high-quality products” with reported sales in 2019 were €53.7 billion. LVMH, whose history goes back to 1593, also claims to be the only group present in all five major sectors of the luxury market: wines & spirits, fashion and leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics, watches & jewellery and selective retailing.
