
40 Years, One Candle: Our Story with Lola James Harper
To celebrate NellyRodi’s 40th anniversary, we wanted to give ourselves a gift that would last for at least the next 40 years. We reached out to Lola James Harper to create the Hôtel Cromot du Bourg candle – named after the building that houses NellyRodi’s Paris offices. We spoke with Rami Mekdachi, co-founder and creative director of Lola James Harper.


Can you introduce yourself briefly – both you and Lola James Harper?


There’s been image, text, and sound… It seems like the next frontier for brands is scent. Can you explain what’s happening right now and why it’s becoming important?
What is the scent of a brand or a person? How is it captured? How is it developed?

You created a scent to celebrate NellyRodi’s 40th anniversary. Can you tell us how that process unfolded and what inspired you?
I had the chance to meet Nelly Rodi and Pierre-François Le louët 20 years ago, when we first came together to talk about fragrance. Since then, we’ve become friends. Over the years, we’ve often met to share ideas, inspirations, and simply talk about life — what moves us, what we find meaningful.
This year, 2025, is a very special one: it marks the 40th anniversary of the NellyRodi agency. So together — Nelly, Pierre-François, and myself — we wanted to celebrate this milestone in a personal and poetic way. We decided to create a short film, a visual tribute to the agency’s journey, its vision, and the beauty of this family-led project that has evolved through four decades with creativity and purpose.
We also wanted to celebrate the incredible space that now houses the agency — the Hôtel Cromot du Bourg — a majestic and historical place. Since 1830, it has been home to artists, artisans, and entrepreneurs. It once echoed with the music of Chopin and the pianos of Pleyel. It has known vibrant eras, and quieter ones too, and now it lives again, full of creative energy.
What makes NellyRodi special is that it brings together creatives, craftsmen, thinkers, and makers — to imagine the future. And so, for the 40th anniversary, we wanted to honor both the project and the place. That’s why we created the scent of this hôtel particulier.
As I’ve said before, the scent of a space isn’t an abstract concept — it’s figurative, it’s real. When you step into Hôtel Cromot du Bourg, your eyes take in the woodwork, the moldings, the paintings… When I create a room fragrance, I work more like a photographer. I observe — I ask myself, what does this place truly smell like? And then I try to translate that visually evocative impression into scent, using the right raw materials. And here, it became clear: a precious wood, deep and majestic.