GUEST
Avec Rami Mekdachi, l'esprit libre à l'origine de la marque Lola James Harper, on parle d'inspirations, de son sanctuaire corse, de ses bonnes adresses et de l'intimiste salon sensoriel qu'il a installé chez Archive 18-20 avec Bang & Olufsen. On y retrouve l'âme de la marque et de son créateur, empreinte de vie, d'optimisme et d'évidente sagesse.
Aux côtés de photographies choisies dans 12 ans de pellicule et prises avec d'incroyables femmes artistes, on peut découvrir un booth sensoriel qui met en scène autrement les fragrances de la collection. Une invitation à l'imprégnation, à l'aide de chacun de ses sens, de l'âme des lieux et des instants racontés par sa collection de bougies. Du Bomboneria, salon de thé barcelonais au Comics store de George sur la 8ème avenue à New York, voyagez depuis le Marais. Et désormais, Archive 18-20 devient une expérience sensorielle à part entière, grâce à la bougie exclusive créée par Lola James Harper.
L'installation est à découvrir au store jusqu'en janvier 2019Retrouvez les bougies Lola James Harper sur le site
TUBEROSE / MUSK
In the heart of Paris... the mythical Marais district. In a secret courtyard, rue des Archives we entered a huge concrete floor, white walls gallery covered with a glass ceiling showing the sky and the Parisian buildings around. Flowers and green plants everywhere living with fashion and art.
What is your background? Encounters and opportunities make changes in our lives... I began with photography and music and as life takes sometimes unexpected turns I met a L'Oréal manager that really liked my skills combination and ask me to help on some perfume projects... that was a life changing proposal... :-) I just felt in love with the perfume field, its poetry and its power of evocation.., An encounter with perfumers Pierre Bourdon and Benoist Lapouza ... in 1998... in Paris... 2 great, creative, open minded and generous perfumers... they taught me how to dream and play in the fragrance field... I kept since then these 3 fields in my life... Playing and composing music, taking pictures and art directing fragrances for others... Than in 2012 I decided to gather them all in one project named Lola James Harper... Lola James Harper is my way of gathering amazing people i met around the world... sharing the energy and love we have... trying to show how the world is great by giving music, fragrances, pictures of it... I gathered hundred of songs, of fragrances, of pictures in 20 years while working and travelling for major brands... I believe that we need to give more time and space to our senses : hear, smell, touch, taste, see... and to our soul mates...
Who inspires you the most? Wow... so many people inspire me: Ella Fitzgerald or Jimmy Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Gene Kelly, Nelson Mandela, JFK, Marthin Luther King, Kurt Cobain, Gandhi... so many people that could tell so much about the world... Mickael Jordan with LeBron James, Obama, Richard Bronson, Jack White, Spielberg, Woody Allen, Dave Grohl, Mike Myers... Don't get me started... ;-)
What are your plans at the moment? We are finalizing our first musical movie ... 85mn about our last 2 decades... Globe-trotting the world, discovering music, friendship and family... This is the beginning of our music and movie fields... We are launching soon the first music album of Lola James Harper... and screening our movie in festivals and private events... We are also proud to announce we are going soon to open full Lola James Harper Hotels... With basketball courts, music studios, TV basements, Vinyl shops, coffee shops, Art gallery, full of travel and music pictures, full of fragrances and cosmetics field with our way of life...Where do you get your inspiration from?From living my life...Your fitness tip? Basketball games with family and friends, whenever, wherever...
"Anywhere I try to find a places where I take the time to understand and get closer to what I really love..."
A destination to recharge your batteries? There is a place in Corsica , in the middle of the scrub, near Calvi where I go to get things clearer in my head... Summertime...always... the smell of labdanum, thym, and rosemary is amazing... the sun light is always bright but I am in the shade... I am in a deck chair with a pen and a notebook... this is were I decided to create Lola James Harper, where I point out what I am proud of or what I have to improve... Every summer for 10 years I went there for 3 weeks...
I learned there what it means to take hours just filling my senses with nature sound, smells, light, air and at the same time filling a notebook with ideas, feelings and thoughts... It’s a place where the body and mind are clear... Nature sounds, smells, air, quietness are great for that... it’s been 7 years that I travel a lot and do road trips around the world... Anywhere I try to find a places where I take the time to understand and get closer to what I really love...The perfect hotel to take a break? ACE Hotel Palm Springs, Californian desert, not on week-ends though...
A place for a first date?Le pont des Arts, Paris, sunset or sunrise... A place for an evening out with friends? Bowling... What is your favorite dish? Any dish shared with people i love...A place to stroll on Sundays? Rue des Archives in Paris for sure... :-D What do we find in your playlist?Music is my air, I am aways surrounded by it... Rock, Folk, Jazz, WorldMusic and all our Lola James Harper artists... What song can you listen to over and over again?Any songs...What is your favorite movie line? « Yesterday is history, tomorrows a mystery but today is a gift that’s why it is called the present » Kung Fu Panda