Elephants spend most of their lives on the move, and wherever they pass, we stand and stare. It has been this way forever in India, where artists have attempted to capture the graceful form of this megafauna in ancient cave paintings, illuminated manuscripts, temple friezes, and textiles. When Indian designer Vikram Goyal, in association with Vogue USA, invited Pavitra Rajaram Design to collaborate on ‘Wrapped in History’, part of The Great Elephant Migration project, we knew we had to showcase these beautiful behemoths in the many avatars they have been adored for centuries on the Subcontinent.

‘Wrapped in History’ was a global call 70 designers to create bespoke blankets for a herd of life-sized elephant sculptures making their way from America’s East to West coast for a fund-raising initiative. PRD was joined by contributors like Diane von Furstenberg, Bibhu Mohapatra, Sabyasachi, Ralph Lauren, Anamika Khanna and Elie Saab. Each blanket drew from a vast repository of indigenous motifs from around the world, and represented the spirit of coexistence symbolised by the elephant. Proceeds from the sale of the blankets went to over 20 organisations engaged in wildlife conservation.

PRD’s design was named Airavata for the celestial vahan or mount of Lord Indra, king of gods. According to Hindu scripture, the white three-headed elephant is a guardian of the heavens and the bringer of rains. The PRD Elephant Blanket, designed and produced by Tanish Malji and Maithili Goradia in our studio, layers similar iconography from different eras, faiths and regions of India.

As the blanket unfolds, we see a row of caparisoned elephants in a royal procession, tuskers leading a hunt in the Mughal tradition, and visions of the majestic mammoth as it appears in tales from the great Hindu epics, Tibetan scrolls and Jain cosmology. Sky, water and land merge into each other, as do different epochs and artistic forms.

The design was rendered in print on handloom silk Benarasi brocade, bordered with patchworked brocade and hand-quilted with luminous zari in a criss-cross pattern. The blanket was backed with a plush berry velvet to give it a comforting heft.

The ‘Wrapped in History’ blankets were exhibited at the Beverly Hills Festival of Culture in July 2025 and later auctioned online. We’re proud to make a meaningful contribution, through PRD’s Airavata blanket, towards The Great Elephant Migration project, which supports NGOs across the world in protecting biodiversity and preserving spaces where different species may coexist.