TH_Fashion_BedStuy

Bedford~Stuyvesant has undergone an extreme makeover. Once called the “do or die” section of Brooklyn, the neighborhood now boasts a dropping crime rate and breathtaking brownstones that have become hot property.

Naturally, the hipsters aren’t far behind. New stores have sprouted to attract funky shoppers from near and far.

“This is exactly what we wanted to see happen,” says Crystal Bobb~Semple, co~owner of Brownstone Books (409 Lewis Avenue). “These homes need new life and the businesses need customers.”

When Bobb~Semple and her husband Walston opened Brownstone Books and the Parlor Floor antiques shop [over five] years ago, their goal was to provide a gathering place for local intellectuals.

“We were the first business owners to bring high~end retail to the neighborhood,” says the Bed~Stuy native, whose bookstore has hosted authors including Nikki Giovanni and Walter Mosley. “Every neighborhood needs a bookstore.”

Debor~Rah Brown~Reid also had community improvement in mind when she transformed the brownstone she’d planned to sell into The House of Brown (370 Lewis Avenue). The modest day spa and gift shop specializes in Reiki, massage therapy, natural hair care and one~of~a~kind clothing. But because the area is still in transition, the former correctional officer says some folks were skeptical.

The nearby restaurant owners, in particular, stuck their heads in the door.

“People were like, ‘What are you doing over there?,’” says Brown~Reid. “I told them, ‘I’m making a place to de~stress. So when you finish cooking, come on over and get a massage.’”

Within a year of the shop’s grand opening in September 2004, Mimi Humphrey opened Freestyle Kids (373 Lewis Avenue).

Humphrey previously owned a children’s clothing store in her native Park Slope and designed clothing for Spike Lee’s defunct Spike’s Joint shop in Fort Greene. the self~taught designer says there’s no place like Bed~Stuy.

“I received such a warm welcome when I came here,” says Humphrey, whose colorful kids’ shop boasts a distinctive selection of handmade crotchet sweaters, Afrocentric clothing, coats, and dolls ranging in price from $5 to $60. “People still come in and praise the store. They love how the neighborhood is changing.”

Harlem native Josie Almonte fell in love with Bed~Stuy when she moved there two years ago. “I thought, ‘We need a nice little boutique,’” she says, “One where we can find candles, makeup and pantyhose, which all women need.”

In July, Almonte opened the reasonably priced and tastefully designed Little Red Boutique (374 Lewis Avenue), splashed the walls red and filled it with name~brand clothing, shoes and accessories in a wide selection of sizes and trendy styles priced from $20 to $70.

The Lewis Avenue shop owners work together as members of SoLA ~ the Shops of Lewis Avenue merchants association.

“We all know each other by name,” says Almonte. “It’s a great place to be.”

Bed~Stuy’s other burgeoning shopping strip is Tompkins Avenue ~ home to upscale boutique Misu (404 Tompkins Avenue).

“We wanted to be pioneers,” says Misu co~owner Alexandra Marra, recalling when she and boyfriend Woody Pierre set up shop four years ago. “We wanted to bring a little bit of Manhattan to the ’hood.”

Marra’s efforts, however, to bring comparatively pricey merchandise to a block marred by iron gates scrawled with graffiti and typified by nearby discount stores, wasn’t initially well received.

“It was a culture shock to the neighborhood,” she says, adding that non~locals have been fearful to stop by because of Bed~Stuy’s sketchy reputation. “Since the first day we opened, people said we belonged in the city.”

But over time, Marra ~ who recently opened a second store, La Vedette, in park slope ~ says shoppers have become less intimidated by Misu (My Idea So Unique), known for its selection of designer jeans and leather handbags ranging in price from $80 to $300 and its “i love da hood” t~shirts for $30.

Encouraged by her mother to start her own business, Achuziam Maha turned the abandoned laundromat next to Misu into Ibo Landing (402 Tompkins Avenue), a polished home décor shop with modern furniture from Malaysia and Japan, and exotic decorative pieces from Morocco, Vietnam, Peru and South Africa that sell for 20% less than Pottery Barn.

The Bed~Stuy native, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for several generations, named the 2~year~old shop in homage to her Nigerian heritage and the film “Daughters of the Dust,” which recounts the history of Ibo captives who escaped to South Carolina’s sea islands.

“I felt like we were landing here in Bed~Stuy with this new energy and vision,” explains the bedding designer. “A lot of people in the community don’t believe that we deserve nice things. We want to bring back the time when people expected quality work from their own.”

While Ibo Landing’s esthetic is modern, AfroArt Designs (316 Stuyvesant Avenue) sells traditional African home accessories and paintings by local artists. Shanda King opened the gallery~like store in 2004 ~ just three blocks from her home ~ and says she wouldn’t have her business anywhere else.

“It was always my dream to have a store right here in Bed~Stuy where you could find all of the home furnishings that reflect African people,” says the interior designer. “That’s what I did, and the reception has been overwhelming.”

To make everyone feel welcome, AfroArt meets every price point ~ from a Senegalese coaster for $1 to furniture for up to $2,500.

“This is a community store,” says King. “I’m from the community and my heart is with the people who shop here.”