About Us - Our Why?

Choi·ces - The Brand, began with an epiphany and unbridled self-reflection. Our original founder, Lillie Rose Bush came up with the name after doing a much thorough review of her life. She reflected on a timeline of her adolescence and tumultuous upbringing all the way up until her recovery from gun shot wounds she sustained in the early hours of July 5th 2021. Lillie thought of all the choices she had made and how it shaped her current reality. She also understood how important it was to make the right choices moving forward in regards to her future and the future of her two young boys. It was at that moment while in the hospital she decided that she wanted to start a clothing line. Impassioned by the concept, she began brainstorming about how the clothes would look and what elements to include in order to make the brand unique. She had a vision and was enthusiastic about getting started. 

Unfortunately, Lillie would not get a chance to see her idea come to fruition as her life was tragically cut short months later on September 28, 2021 due to yet another incident of gun violence in which she did not survive. A month after her funeral, Lillie's cousin Jamaal who was deeply impacted by her death decided to carry on with her dream and create the garment line in her honor. He himself had seen so many people he grew up with die from violence and health related issues. Jamaal like many others, was tired of the new status quo and took it upon himself to turn the brand into a vehicle for activism. The mission of this company isn't to be another clothing brand, but to establish a community devoted to resolving human conflict. We want to bring awareness, invoke conversation and establish solutions through art and fashion.

In the past, once you reach old age and death is near, you were able to reflect over your life. You then come to the realization that your life was comprised of a sum of all the choices you made, whether good or bad. Now we live in a time where people aren't dying from natural causes and some aren't making it past youth. Nowadays, violence of any kind is celebrated and replicated like that of the coliseum events in BC Rome. Violence went from primarily physical to virtual and there's an audience for it of all ages. Content creators, whether through video games, movies, music or social media understand this, yet they feed the audiences insatiable appetites daily. 

Men, women and children are dying at an alarming rate and it's at the epicenter of senselessness. You hear more stories now about the kids killing each other more than anyone and its in part due to broken homes, inattentive parents, lack of resources, lack of programs in poorer communities, social settings that foster vicious behavior and viewership of influential media without explanation. So many children are misguided, miseducated, and misinformed. Countless victims and more recently an influx of those who were completely innocent and unaware of their impending demise are leaving families devastated. On the other side of the coin, the families of those who inflict violence wishes their loved ones made better choices in life. A duality, too often repeated because of fear and carelessness. Somehow, someway it has to stop.

Solutions are abundant, but are they effective? People want to focus on the next generation but we have to address our current reality first. So many politicians, corporations and people of influence mishandle their responsibilities for monetary gain. And for most of us, we're so ingrained to ignore evil until it hits our doorstep. As a company, it's our duty to impact those here and now so that the next generation will have a smooth transition. Our method of delivering this message is through our garments and content. We aim to pull on the heartstrings of humanity through imagery, epithets, and sound in order to invoke action and demand change. 

THAT'S OUR WHY... What's yours?