Bloomington gets some style

Oversized hoodies and velour suits are part of the basis for fashion inside downtown Bloomington's latest boutique. Urban Stylz is the name of Bloomington's first and only urban wear shop. \nThe store, located at 113 7th St., greets customers with a bright yellow and red graffiti style sign. Upon entering the store, patrons are surrounded by posters of urban culture and the latest hip-hop music flowing in the background. It is a unique addition to the downtown area, providing an outlet for those with an urban sense of style. \nPresident Derrick Cross, a graduate student, grew up wearing lounge wear like sweats suit, but he was inspired by stores in cities like New York and Chicago, he said.\n"Basically I have been to a lot of different places," he said. "I moved to Fort Wayne and saw the stores there, and I wanted to do it."\nCross wanted to make it a specialty store geared specifically towards urban wear, he said.\n"When I met (Vice President Aurora Marín) she was also ready to do it. It was easy to open," he said. \nWhile Marín did research, Cross asked around and got the idea that other people wanted the store aside from himself.\nMarín, also a graduate student, said there is a market in Bloomington for urban wear.\n"Even though it is a small town, hip-hop and rap are popular here," she said. "Since the clothes are so closely associated with the music I knew there was a market here." \nIt is more convenient for people who want to wear this type of clothing to have a store right downtown, Marín said. \n"Before, people had to go to Indianapolis or Chicago to find Phat Farm and Sean John, but now they can come here and get it," she said.\nUrban wear is one of the top-five fastest-growing industries in the fashion world, Marín said.\n"To us it's designer clothing and the store is for people that like this type of style," Marín said \nThe high-priced designer clothing is not unreasonable because there is always a sale going on, Marín said. Prices are negotiable, and they offer student specials.\nAlthough, the store is not big yet, Cross said he would like people to take advantage of the clothing they do have. The boutique started off with seven mainstream urban wear clothing lines and has since added many more. \n"I like Roc A Wear, but we try to get a little bit of everybody," Cross said.\nUrban Stylz has everything from hot pink Baby Phat Velour suits to big fur hooded Roc A Wear coats. They carry labels like Snoop Dogg, Triple Five Soul, Phat Farm Akademiks and Sean John. They even support local designers like Shannon Hogan's Sxcels line, and welcome any one to come in if they need help jump starting their careers. \n"If people are trying to start up careers and want to sell something here we invite it," Cross said. \nThe duo says the store has been doing well since it opened its doors Sept. 14, and they said they get all kinds of customers. \n"We get a lot of white customers because it is a predominately white town," Marín said. "For every black guy that comes in we get six or seven white guys because those are the demographics."\nShe also attributes the large white customer base to record sales. Eighty percent of hip-hop heads are white so the clothes most rap stars wear are going to be popular among whites, she said. \n"We get kids coming in here saying they want white skull caps like what Eminem wore in "8 Mile," or saying I want that outfit because so and so had it on in his video," said Marín. \nJ Lo. and Baby Phat lines are popular among white girls, Cross said. J Lo. outfits were so popular they sold out. \nThe store is frequented by people of all ethnic backgrounds and is not geared specifically toward blacks like most people might think, Marín said. It is centered around urban culture. \n"Urban Culture is a sub culture of every culture," Marín said. "It is a city style, not just white or black. The store is for kids who are from the east coast and cities like Chicago so they don't have to go all the way home to get the clothes they like"