Room 1015: The Rebellious Spirit of Rock in Fragrance

“An iconic fragrance doesn’t just smell good. It haunts.”
(An iconic fragrance does more than simply smell good. It possesses the mind and will not let go.)
— Michael Partouche, also known as Dr. Mike, founder of Room 1015

Essential Information
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
What Matters to the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
By the Way…

Essential Information

Founded: 2015 (Paris)
Founder: Michael Partouche, also known as Dr. Mike
Official website: https://room1015.com

Note: The brand name is pronounced “Room Ten Fifteen.”

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

The Boy Before the Pharmacist

Michael Partouche’s story begins with his devotion to rock ’n’ roll at the age of six. Music fascinated him from childhood, but his parents were slow to buy him a guitar. At last, when he was ten, he received his first guitar, initially an inexpensive one, followed later by the Gibson he had long wanted as a gift. Yet his parents made their permission to pursue music conditional on a promise: he would also study for a proper profession, just in case.

Taking that condition seriously, Michael studied pharmacy in Paris and earned a doctorate in pharmacy. This doctorate would later give rise to his nickname, Dr. Mike. His passion for music, however, never went out.

London, Touring, and a Turning Point

With his doctorate in hand, Michael immediately left the pharmacist’s path behind and flew to London. There he toured with his band, recorded albums and collaborated with numerous artists. Eventually the band broke up, and he began to consider his next direction. After five years in London, however, he found himself at a crossroads. Now a father, he explains:

“Music demands 100% commitment and leaves no room at all for family. I wanted to travel less because I did not want to miss the most exciting years of my children’s lives.”
— Michael Partouche

Michael therefore returned to Paris. His parents’ employment safety-net strategy had proved sound: he found a job as a pharmacist at the British American Pharmacy. His employer reportedly took no particular issue with this man’s dark curls, black clothing and profusion of tattoos. Working in the pharmacy, Michael rediscovered his passion for cosmetics, a subject that had interested him since his student days and led him to call himself the “band’s pharmacist,” recommending creams to his bandmates while on tour.

A Scent That Became His “Madeleine”

One memory preceded his decision to start a fragrance brand: the moment when his father gave him a Gibson at the age of eleven.

“The smell of the wood, the lacquer, the metal strings and the synthetic case. That scent became my personal ‘Proust’s madeleine.’ Even now, whenever I open a guitar case, it instantly takes me back to that moment.”
— Michael Partouche

This olfactory memory directly inspired Electric Wood, Room 1015’s first perfume. His sensibility as a musician and his chemical knowledge as a pharmacist, two seemingly opposing worlds, were looking for a place to come together.

“Having followed the paths of both pharmacist and musician, I began looking for a new direction that would combine my background in chemistry with my passion for music, art and counterculture. That search gave birth to Room Ten Fifteen.”
— Michael Partouche

2015: A Brand Named After a Legendary Room Is Born

Room 1015 made its debut from Paris in spring 2015. The company itself was registered in 2014, and sales materials describe it as conceived in Sweden, registered in Los Angeles and making its perfumes in France, giving it an international DNA. Its current headquarters are in Paris’s 8th arrondissement.

The name Room 1015 comes from room 1015 at the Continental Hyatt House, nicknamed the Riot House, on Los Angeles’s Sunset Strip. Rock stars including the Doors, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin regularly stayed at this hotel, where Keith Richards is said to have established the tradition of trashing this room during the Stones’ 1972 tour.

“It is the most thoroughly trashed hotel room in the history of rock ’n’ roll.”
— Michael Partouche

A symbol of rebellion, freedom and excess: this is the spirit embodied in the name Room 1015.

What Matters to the Brand

The Idea of an “Olfactory Manifesto”

Room 1015’s official website defines the brand as “Olfactory Counterculture” and describes its perfumes as “olfactory manifestos moving between the punk movement, artificial paradises, the sexual revolution and transcendental meditation.”

At the heart of Dr. Mike’s creative work is a distinctive sensibility born at the intersection of music and pharmacy.

“Music taught me rhythm and atmosphere; pharmacy taught me structure and precision. Perfume exists at their intersection. Like a musical score, a fragrance formula needs balance, tension and release.”
— Michael Partouche

Collaborating with Perfumers

Rather than working as an independent perfumer who composes fragrances himself, Dr. Mike collaborates with perfumers suited to each perfume’s concept. He has worked with the following perfumers:

Jérôme Epinette: Cherry Punk, Sonic Flower, Ten Fifteen and Hollyrose
Jérôme Di Marino: Wavechild and Love-O-Matic
Serge de Oliveira: Sweet Leaf and Purple Mantra
Anne-Sophie Behaghel & Amélie Bourgeois: Electric Wood and Power Ballad (Flair)

He briefs them through musical and visual approaches, including mood boards, videos and keywords. Dr. Mike has said that while developing Power Ballad he listened to 1990s metal songs with the perfumers to share his inspiration.

Bringing Music and Scent Together: A Dedicated Track for Every Perfume

One of Room 1015’s most distinctive practices is to give every perfume its own original piece of music. The music is created by Pat Dam Smyth, a London-based musician and former bandmate of Dr. Mike.

“When I launched Room 1015, we began making music for the campaigns, and it became a tradition. Each perfume came to have its own original track capturing its essence.”
— Michael Partouche

This collaboration eventually developed to the point that Dr. Mike and Pat Dam Smyth officially formed a band called Death Drive.

Attention to Bottles and Packaging

Dr. Mike sees packaging as inseparable from the fragrance experience.

“The bottle is the vinyl record’s sleeve. Before the first spray, the visual language sets the tone. A fragrance should be a total experience: it should look, feel and smell like the world to which it belongs.”
— Michael Partouche

The bottles are decorated with provocative symbols and graphics, their designs visually embodying the brand’s rebellious spirit. An official announcement in early 2025 stated that the packaging would be renewed in stages.

Vegan, Cruelty-Free and Unisex

The fact that every perfume is vegan-friendly, cruelty-free and unisex also expresses the brand’s position. It can be seen as an expression of Dr. Mike’s intention to bring countercultural values together with contemporary ethics.

The Fragrance Lineup

Centered on the golden age of rock in the 1970s, Room 1015’s lineup has expanded to encompass diverse countercultural scenes, including punk, hippie culture, grunge, surf culture and glam rock. Formats include 100 ml, 50 ml and smaller pocket editions, with available sizes varying by fragrance. Some creations also have extrait versions.

The Founding Trilogy (2015)

The brand made its debut with three perfumes.

Electric Wood is inspired by Dr. Mike’s earliest memory: the smell of the case of a guitar he received as a child. Built around cedarwood, oak, sage, lemon, musk and other notes, its concept is that “as the guitar case trembles open, the electric jolt of lacquered wood and the metallic twang of taut strings emerge.”

Atramental translates the olfactory aura of a tattoo studio into perfume. Bergamot, black pepper, cardamom and castoreum notes combine in an innovative expression of overlapping ink, skin and disinfectant. The name Atramental derives from the Latin word for ink.

Blomma Cult is a declaration of love for 1960s hippie culture. “Blomma” means “flower” in Swedish. With patchouli at its core, violet, vanilla, cinnamon and bergamot weave a sensual, liberating fragrance that carries the atmosphere of the free-love era.

A Signature Creation: Cherry Punk

The brand’s most popular perfume at present is Cherry Punk.

Inspired by 430 King’s Road in London, the address of Vivienne Westwood’s legendary shop SEX, this creation is designed as a fragrance for the hallowed birthplace of punk. Composed by Jérôme Epinette, it moves from cherry, saffron and Sichuan pepper in the top notes to violet, jasmine absolute and mimosa in the heart, then patchouli, tonka bean and black leather in the base.

Development took place in 2019, but the decision to launch online came in 2020, as stores closed during the pandemic.

“I did not expect much. But it spread very quickly. People around the world began looking for little joys during lockdown, and Cherry Punk became one of them. Two years later, other brands began following the cherry trend, but Cherry Punk remains one of the most beloved cherry perfumes in the niche market.”
— Michael Partouche

An extrait de parfum, a more concentrated version, is also available, offering a longer-lasting trail and greater depth.

The Worlds of the Main Fragrances

The major fragrances added later each capture a different musical or cultural scene.

Ten Fifteen pays homage to the very heyday of 1970s rock. Dr. Mike explains:

“I tried to imagine the smell of this hotel room where so much had happened! For a rebellious touch, burnt sandalwood and mandarin were a perfect match for the freshness of violet.”
— Michael Partouche

Its composition moves from mandarin and saffron in the top notes to violet and iris in the heart, then sandalwood, papyrus and guaiac wood in the base.

Sonic Flower was created as a tribute to the women rockers who revolutionized the music scene, such as Blondie and the Runaways. Its powdery floral composition opens with pink pepper and carrot seed, moves into a heart of iris and jasmine, and settles into a base of ambroxan, cashmere wood and musk. It was composed by Jérôme Epinette.

Sweet Leaf reflects the spirit of the late 1960s, featuring a cannabis note alongside grapefruit, eucalyptus and Cashmeran wood.

Wavechild is a tribute to surf culture, described by Dr. Mike as “a fragrance like a soundtrack.” Watermelon and coconut form its heart, followed by ambergris and amber wood in the base, enveloping the wearer in the ripple of water and the warmth of the sun.

Jasmine Freak emerged from a David Bowie exhibition Dr. Mike visited in Stockholm, where he encountered photographer Masayoshi Sukita’s pictures from the 1970s. A sensual creation themed around glam rock and drag culture, it combines mango, Egyptian jasmine, Indian tuberose and other notes.

“Bowie’s outfits were unconventional and eccentric, reflecting his art and personality. I wanted to create a richly floral and fruity fragrance about self-expression.”
— Michael Partouche

Love-O-Matic, by contrast, is inspired by the thoroughly everyday setting of a laundromat.

“The laundromat is a paradox: public yet private, impersonal yet strangely sensual. In that space where everyone waits for their laundry, there is a cinematic, quiet romance.”
— Michael Partouche

Composed by Jérôme Di Marino, it combines strawberry, blackcurrant, a bubblegum accord, a clean accord, ambrette, musk and cedar.

Collaborative Creations

Atramental × Sang Bleu is a limited edition with tattoo artist and creative director Maxime Plescia-Büchi, the founder of Sang Bleu. Combining Sang Bleu’s geometric design language with the distinctive scent of Room 1015’s Atramental, it is said to translate the essence of the tattoo experience into perfume: the tactile sensation of skin and the appeal of indelible ink.

By the Way…

Keith Richards and the Legendary Hotel The room-trashing that inspired the brand’s name is the subject of overlapping anecdotes involving different periods and people, with several versions of the details. Whatever the account, “the most trashed hotel room in rock history” remains the brand’s spiritual point of origin.

Not an Adviser, but the “Band’s Pharmacist” While on tour, Dr. Mike was reportedly known as the band’s pharmacist, forever recommending creams to his bandmates. That his pharmacy qualification would open the door to a fragrance brand may not have been something even he imagined from the outset.

Indifference to Awards In one interview, Dr. Mike explicitly said that he was “not particularly interested in winning awards.” What matters to him instead are the moments when people are moved by scent or music.

The Japanese Debut The brand made its Japanese debut at NOSE SHOP on December 13, 2019. Distribution subsequently expanded to stores in Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Azabudai, Yurakucho, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Sapporo, Fukuoka and elsewhere, as well as online. Stockists and products vary over time.

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