Somewhere on Santa Monica Boulevard this summer, there’s an elephant. She’s not alive, but she is majestic. Sculpted mid-step, draped in a ceremonial textile. She’s part of The Great Elephant Migration; a global art and conservation project curated by Vikram Goyal. Life-sized elephants, each cloaked in ceremonial blankets created by artists and designers including Ralph Lauren, Sabyasachi, Bibhu Mohapatra, and Boito, form a travelling installation honouring India’s quiet success with wildlife conservation. The initiative raises funds for 21 NGOs, while tracing a story of cultural empathy between people and animals. And Boito’s blanket rests on this matriarch.
This is not just a textile. And it’s definitely not just a blanket.
In many indigenous cultures, ceremonial blankets are more than garments. They’re heirlooms. Spiritual tools. Woven archives of who we are and where we come from. In Odisha, this is clearest in the kapdaganda – an embroidered textile created by the Dongria Kondh women. With mountain motifs and coded threads, it speaks in the language of landscape and ritual. Boito knew they wanted that symbolism woven in. But they didn’t stop there.
Their matriarch blanket is built from across Odisha’s craftscape, blending Sambalpuri ikat silk with Khandua from Nuapatna, both known for their precise, resist-dyed geometry. Intricate Bomkai weaves layer in storytelling motifs, while Kotpad cloth, dyed in madder extracted from the local aal tree, brings an earthy warmth. The joyful chaos of Pipli appliqué adds flashes of saturated colour, offset by the sculptural gleam of Dhokra metalwork, crafted using the ancient lost-wax technique. And anchoring it all is the sacred kapdaganda, hand-embroidered by Dongria Kondh women.
“She reminded us of the women we work with.”
That’s what Richa Maheshwari, Boito’s founder, said about the matriarch. “A symbol of quiet strength and generational wisdom.” The blanket took months. Not because it had to, but because that was the point. “This was never about speed,” Richa says. “It was about honouring what happens when you allow the process to breathe.”
Each artisan cluster had to adapt. Collaborate across mediums. Work beyond the usual format, while staying rooted. “The real beauty was in watching that evolution,” Richa adds. “We weren’t just making something—we were building pride.”
A migration with meaning
The Great Elephant Migration isn’t just an art project. It’s a reminder of something India rarely gets credit for: our wildlife populations are rising. Elephants, tigers, lions, rhinos: over the last 30 years, their numbers have doubled.
This project tells that story. Through fabric, not charts.
It’s supported by names like Jane Goodall, Padma Lakshmi, Diane von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera, and Their Majesties The King and Queen. The blankets will be auctioned on Artsy from July 18, with proceeds going to 21 conservation NGOs.
All image courtesy: Boito