Against Nature

My interest in working with leather and metals began with a paid internship for a master silversmith in my early 20s. A job that initially began with enumerable hours of soldering & grinding, finishing & polishing evolved into a career designing accessories for Ralph Lauren, RRL, Tommy Hilfiger and a stream of private clientele. Inevitably this led... to the opening of Against Nature, a gentleman's boutique in the classic Victorian tradition, located in the heart of New York's lower east side. At Against Nature we specialize in the finest bespoke suits, denim & accessories. All of our products are handmade in NYC. In addition to my ready to wear line of jewelry I also offer custom made designs. Each piece of my jewelry is cast, sized, and finished to your exact specifications. Please contact me for more information. I've been an avid bone collector as long as I can remember. As a child, I would forage through the woods of upstate New York searching for artifacts to add to myalready growing collection of natural ephemera and osteological remnants. As I grew older, my interests gravitated towards the rarer and more mysterious anatomical specimens and medical antiques. As a teenager, a girl I was dating gave me a human skull. She couldn't have chosen a more appropriate gift. Up to this point, I'd handled just about every variety of animal skull short of an elephant, but this was the first homosapien cranium I'd seen up close. I was intrigued, fascinated, and awe-inspired. Intoxicated. This wasn't just some half-eaten dog skull, this belonged to an actual person. As the weeks passed, I poured over the anatomical works of Leonardo DaVinci. I was absolutely compelled to examine every aspect of what made up the human cranium. Every different component, detail, and complexity that form this wondrous structure took my breath away. Through my research, I was led to the discovery of 18th century French Anatomist Claude Beauchene's "exploded" skulls. This kicked my interest to another level entirely. Here I'd found the ...Read More