Luxury on three wheels: At Rs 35L, Louis Vuitton’s ‘auto-rickshaw handbag’ is here

India is clearly having a major haute couture moment, and fashion houses are taking bold and occasionally bizarre steps to tap into cultural icons. Soon after Prada’s ‘Kolhapuri’ sandals garnered attention, Louis Vuitton dropped an auto-rickshaw bag!

This latest and wildest entrant in this trend is a bold mashup: a rickshaw — long seen as a utilitarian, working-class mode of transport — turned into a reportedly ₹35-lakh luxury accessory, decked out in LV’s signature monogram and holographic finish.

The bag mirrors the structure of an Indian auto-rickshaw — complete with miniature wheels, handlebars and a boxy yellow canopy. It’s both art and accessory.

Priced at ₹35 lakhs (approx. $42,000), the bag costs over 30 times more than a real rickshaw (which starts around ₹1 lakh). Fashion satire or elite statement? Maybe both.

Social media is having a field day.

“LV dropped an auto-rickshaw bag and my brain cells are doing a dangal. Is my rickshaw bhai about to be a style icon now?! This is wilder than Ahmedabad traffic,” posted an X user RJ Vishal. His post sums up the sentiment — admiration, confusion and a good dose of humour.

While there’s excitement about Indian cultural elements being celebrated, many are also calling out the lack of credit to the artisans or communities that inspired such designs. It’s a familiar conversation when global brands borrow from cultures without involving or acknowledging them.

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