The Comics Store of George, what an interesting name for a scent, I thought, as I watched a Vogue Korea YouTube episode featuring K-pop idol group SEVENTEEN’s Vernon and Joshua and what’s inside their bag. During the latter’s turn to share his favorite things, Joshua took out a palm-sized, amber-colored bottle with the name LOLA JAMES HARPER The Comics Store of George 9 printed in bold, black and red letters. As he showed it to the camera, he explained that it was actually a room spray that he would often use as perfume. The room spray, he shared, is from Lola James Harper, a lifestyle brand created by Rami Mekdachi, a photographer who loves to travel and bottled the experiences and things he smelled into perfumes.
“It… smells like paper and wood,” Joshua told Vogue Korea. On the Lola James Harper website, it resonates: “In New York City on 8th Avenue, we love to go to George’s comic book store to check vintage comics or little figurines… Open the door and smell the wood floor, the vintage books & magazines…,” vividly describing the scent in detail.
I found myself in a perfume bar in Seoul, a year after I had watched the video. I casually asked if they carried Lola James Harper and, luckily, they did. I eventually got a whiff of the room spray for the first time, and it did smell like the pages of a book with yellowed edges and an old room with a wooden floor. I sprayed it once more and closed my eyes. “Ah, yes. I must be in George’s comic book store inside Rami’s memories,” I told myself. What an interesting way to travel back in time and to experience someone else’s life even for a brief moment. And what a genius this guy, Rami Mekdachi, is.
“There are so many places to see, so many places to live.”
Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1972, Mekdachi’s life took a dramatic turn when the war broke out around the mid-’70s, which forced his family to flee to Paris. Interestingly, instead of resisting or rebelling against the abrupt changes he and his family had to go through, it opened young Mekdachi’s eyes to the beauty of diversity and the richness of different cultures. His early exposure to such transitions instilled in him a profound appreciation for life and a fresh, newfound perspective on how to fully live it.
“I learned at a young age that there are so many places to see, so many places to live, and that something absolutely true somewhere can be unheard [of] somewhere else,” Mekdachi recounted in this exclusive interview for The Beauty Edit. “Each culture is a new map and a new set of toys to play with. We have to open our eyes, our ears, our nose, our hands, and our soul to what is offered right here, right now, and make the most of it, trying to embrace whatever makes us happy.”
In the ’80s, teenage Mekdachi was a fixture in punk rock circles. He breezed through the streets of Paris on his roller skates, navigating through the sights and taking in as much as he could of the world around him.
At 30 years old, he found himself playing and recording music with friends and family, taking tons of pictures of his travels, and making films out of his daily adventures. It was around this time, too, that he started creating scents to commemorate iconic places in Paris, like the Hotel Costes and the Colette Concept Store. “I never stopped any of my passions. I just added one after the other, trying to make some room for each of them in my week and trying to always keep some room for dreams,” he explained when asked about his many pursuits.
Never allowing any setbacks to discourage him, by 52, Mekdachi has become a sought-after figure in the creative industry as a photographer, musician, filmmaker (in 2020, he released his award-winning documentary called WITH—A Journey To The Slow Life), and a perfume creative director for some of the world’s most famous brands such as L’Oreal, Chloe, Lacoste, and Roger Vivier.
“Music and perfume are linked, even intertwined.”
The ’90s was when Rami’s journey into the world of scent began. He was guided by mentors who showed him another creative outlet which is perfumery.
“I met two perfumers, Pierre Bourdon and Benoist Lapouza [who] taught me that new form of art,” shared Mekdachi. “I immediately realized how music and perfume are linked, even intertwined. In both worlds, we compose notes to create chords. Scent and sound are untouchable and invisible so we need to link them to something real and tangible—like a place or a person or a moment in time to make them real.”
For the musician and filmmaker, the connection between music and scents runs deep. While both are essentially compositions of notes that bind individuals in shared experiences and rituals, the notes also serve as markers of togetherness or “withdom,” a word he’d often use to refer to this connection. The term also happens to be the title of his book, WITHDOM, released in 2022, which compiles his collective experiences, as expressed and brought about in his collaborations and creations manifested in Lola James Harper.
“Inspired by the places he loves.”
Unknown to many, his Parisian brand wasn’t named after a specific person, nor does it allude to the Filipino word lola which means grandmother. Lola James Harper was the product of a creative family project that involved Mekdachi’s children.
“When [my children] were super young, I just asked them to use two first names. My daughter Lili, [who was then four years old], used to call all her dogs Lola. So she said, Lola. My boy said James because of Lebron James,” Mekdachi laughingly recalled in a 2022 Superception podcast interview. “And then after two or three months, my IP adviser told me ‘Rami, two names is really bad it’s gonna cost way too much to do worldwide registration. We should add a third one.’ At that time, we were listening to Ben Harper, so they said Harper. We just added Harper.”
Lola James Harper marked the culmination of Rami’s diverse passions in 2013. It became the vessel where he poured and immortalized his memories. Each scent is a love letter to a place, an homage to a moment, and a celebration of life.
“Rami creates his scents inspired by the places he loves. When he has a nice moment with his family or [with] friends, he takes note of the natural elements surrounding them, then works with the perfumer to create the olfactive memory,” explained global brand ambassador for Lola James Harper, Courtenay Brandt. “For example, the [scent] Music Studio on Trufo Street is [inspired by] his studio in Paris where he invites musicians and non-musicians to play and record songs. The Vinyl Store on Rue des Dames was [based on] an old record shop he would visit on the weekends with his kids. The Movie Theatre in Lancaster was from his years living in the U.K. and the old performing arts theatre they converted into a movie theatre where he would go see his favorite films,” she added.
One particularly special scent is the leafy and fresh 213 Rue Saint Honoré Air (previously called Air de Colette), inspired by the iconic Colette Concept Store. Mekdachi’s association with the store spanned over two decades where he crafted scents that became synonymous with the store’s fig tree-inspired essence. “When they closed in 2018, Colette and Sarah [the owners], generously offered us to keep [the Rue Saint Honore Air 213 scent] in our Lola James Harper permanent collection so friends could keep re-living those memories connected to it,” Brandt shared. “It also has another special meaning for us because in 2013, we launched Lola James Harper at Colette. This scent truly is the celebration of our friendship over 25 years.”
“I went to Paris and met the founder of Lola James Harper”
Collaboration is one of the foundations of Mekdachi’s creative journey, wherever he finds himself in the world. In fact, his partnership with SEVENTEEN’s Joshua stemmed from a serendipitous virtual encounter—one that led them to capture the essence of the Han River Walk in Seoul together.
“It all began when he [Joshua of SEVENTEEN] shared our Comics Store room spray on a Vogue Korea video,” explained Brandt. “We reached out to him to thank him and [tell him that we are] happy to know it was his favorite scent. From there, we had many conversations about what inspired him and where he felt inspired. He shared his love for the Han River Walk in Seoul so that [became] the inspiring place we chose together to capture the scent and encapsulate it into wax.”
On February 15, 2024, Joshua, who has eventually become Mekdachi’s friend and collaborator, took to Instagram to officially share the news of his work with Lola James Harper that started last November 2023. “I went to Paris and met Rami Mekdachi, the founder of Lola James Harper… A great moment to celebrate our special edition candle THE JOSHUA HONG HAN RIVER WALK 22 with matcha tea, wood, and musk scents,” Joshua wrote in his caption, accompanied by a photo showing the fruit of their meeting. In his heartfelt message, he also expressed his hope that the Han River-inspired candle would serve as a source of comfort and strength for those who buy it, in the same way that the Han River itself offers respite and inspiration to anyone who feels exhausted.
“Stop the intellectual analysis of the scent and dive into the gift…”
Anyone with a fully functioning nose obviously knows how to smell. But, how does one fully appreciate a particular fragrance? Is there a specific way of holding the saturated fragrance tester strips? I asked, curious about the hacks or rituals he might’ve been doing that I know nothing about.
“You close your eyes and let your imagination and your soul take you to some other places, memories, sensations, and dreams [that are] trying to shut the part of you that is trying to know what raw materials compose that scent,” he responded. “Stop the intellectual analysis of the scent and dive into the gift that is to trigger imagination, dreams, and sensation with a fragrance,” he explained.
So I sprayed the Rue Saint Honore Air 213 I had bought from Seoul and followed his advice to the dot as I finished writing this piece. A familiar grassy aroma filled my room. For a second, I was transported back to South Korea, exactly on September 13, 2023—to that very moment, truly a core memory, and found myself bursting with joy and excitement, even hearing the city’s sounds as if I was actually there.
Now I truly get what he meant. It felt like magic.
Multi-sensory experiences through Lola James Harper
If you find yourself traveling and would like to dive deep into the world of Lola James Harper and how its creative Rami Mekdachi sees—and smells!—the world, here are the top five recommendations you can start with, as recommended by Lola James Harper global brand ambassador, Courtenay Brandt.
Music Studio on Trufo Street
With notes of cashmeran, rose, and musk, this scent bottles up memories made in Trufo Studio, a music recording studio in Paris where Mekdachi has worked on all his albums with his co-artists. The studio stands atop an old Parisian building constructed in 1870 and is filled with African and Oriental percussions, a silver drum kit, and plenty of electric and acoustic guitars. For Mekdachi and his collaborators, it’s one to cherish as the space where he’s created, composed, and dreamed of his songs.
Music Studio on Trufo Street
€54.00, Lola James Harper
Vinyl Store Rue Des Dames
This scent bottles up the smell of wooden shelves and vintage vinyl through papyrus and poplar wood notes, reminiscent of the Rue des Dames in Paris, a vinyl store Mekdachi often frequents. It captures a mishmash of memories made in that space: “Lots of soul and funk music… amazing covers and artwork, beautiful sound…”
Vinyl Store Rue Des Dames
€54.00, Lola James Harper
White Coffee on Teta Balcony
The name is quite literal, an homage to an exact person and experience: “Teta is a dear friend… we gather often at her place to chat and think about our projects… She always serves our favorite Lebanese beverage called white coffee, natural orange blossom with honey and hot water.” The memory is captured in its scent notes of orange blossom and honey.
White Coffee on Teta Balcony
€54.00, Lola James Harper
Surf Shop of Stephane
Yet another scent that transports to an exact experience, by way of its tuberose and monoÏ notes: “In San Diego, this surf shop is filled with sea, sun, sand, wood, wax, and monoï fragrances.”
213 Rue Saint Honoré Air
Perhaps the brand’s heritage scent, as it pays homage to the place where it launched Lola James Harper’s candle collection and its first official gig and photo exhibition. It is based on the Mythical Concept Store Colette, 213 Rue Saint-Honoré in the first arrondissement of Paris, which housed more than 20 years of captivating fashion, art and design, food, and parties.
