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ince I’ve returned to Paris from my trips to India, I find myself unable to wear the color black—I’ve actually given all my black clothes away to friends,” proclaims celebrated Parisian artist Florine Asch. Bold, bright and contrasting colors are what endear India most to Asch. She insists, “Nowadays in Paris, India is very à la mode—the cinema, the fashion. The French are really amazed with the elegance and beauty of saris, and I, for one, am saddened that a growing number of women seem to be abandoning them in favor of jeans and European style clothing.” Yet it is this exact juxtaposition of tradition and modernity that Asch was asked to illustrate and capture by the legendary luxury travel house of Louis Vuitton.

Florine Asche at the Louis Vuitton launch party in Mumbai.

Louis Vuitton commissioned Asch to catalog her impressions of Mumbai for its series of illustrated travel notebooks. But this would not be the first tryst with India for either Asch or Louis Vuitton. The venerable house of fashion has centuries-old connections with the royal houses of India. By the late nineteenth century, the combined orders of the maharajas of Kapurthala, Kashmir, Jodhpur and Baroda outnumbered those by the rest of the world. Asch, on the other hand, first visited India on holiday in 1991. In 2004 she illustrated a 14-page hardbound wedding invitation, which ultimately became a collector’s item, for steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter Megha.

Officially titled “A Passage to India: The New Travel Notebook on Mumbai,” this new work may well be on its way to becoming another treasured collectible. When Nirali tried to obtain a copy, we were sweetly dismissed by a manager who quipped, “Louis Vuitton worldwide is sold out, dears!” The coveted notebook is ninth in a series, preceded by Paris, London, Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Sydney, Rio and Athens. Rendered by handpicked artists, the notebooks are comprised of travel illustrations that highlight major tourist destinations as well as city scenes.

The only musts on Asch’s itinerary were popular destinations like India Gate, Maidan Park, the legendary Elephanta caves, as well as the burgeoning business district. Unfamiliar with the city, she was eager to capture the images that “fixated and inspired [her] imagination.” Reluctantly, she hired a tour guide who led her through the city’s array of sights and sounds. Lingering outside the upscale Crossroads Mall with its exclusive designer outlets, Asch was more taken with the teeming roadside bazaars: “The shops on the streets with their bejeweled colored saris were just a reminder that Parisian couturiers like Emanuel Ungaro and Christian Lacroix didn’t invent color contrast, they just borrowed.” She continues, “It’s really a country of colors, something which lends itself so well to the medium of watercolor.”

Asch’s travels through Mumbai were limited to just two weeks during the Hindu festival of Holi. So how did the project culminate in 120 unique illustrations? The entire notebook took nearly a year to complete—most of it in her Parisian studio, with the aid of festival photos, travel books, a serendipitous copy of Shah Rukh Khan’s film Paheli sent to her by friends from Mumbai, and an unrelenting imagination. She avows, “For me India is maharajas, turbans, jewels and extravagance.”

Asch returned to Mumbai this October for the launch of her notebook. The Louis Vuitton fête took place outdoors, overlooking both the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, at the private Chambers Terrace of the Taj Mahal Hotel. Awash in a sea of pinks, whites and burnt oranges, the décor was chosen in hopes of recreating a watercolor effect. White flowers with pink and orange gerberas were used to create Louis Vuitton topiaries. Donning a shocking-pink caftan dress, the statuesque Asch was greeted by a sea of Mumbai glitterati including actresses, pop stars, tycoons, models and royalty. Mingling in the crowd were ingénues Ameesha Patel, Kim Sharma and Anupama Verma, business tycoons Pervez Damania, Rajiv and Komal Wazir, and Bollywood luminaries Karan Johar and Farhad Samar, along with famed mother-daughter duo Neetu and Riddhima of Bollywood’s legendary Kapoor family.

While the sumptuous sounds of the sitar wafted through the air, guests feasted on a cornucopia of Parsi, Goan, North Indian and Gujarati delicacies. One by one, Asch’s well-wishers congratulated her on her vivid depictions, often stating that her illustrations allowed them to see their Mumbai in a new light. A few dissenters in the crowd suggested that she might have romanticized Mumbai too much for their tastes.

As it turns out, Asch’s Mumbai lost a bit of color before she returned to the Continent: She indulged in a shopping spree during which she “purchased 15 stunning Tarun Tahiliani saris”—even though she’s unsure where or when she will wear them. A shame, because though Asch was in Haji Ali, the sticker shock was reminiscent of her native Parisian rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Exotic prices, alas, are a universal language.