The original friend. started between two guys who were best friends since 5th grade. In high school they wanted to start a line of high end t-shirts. One was taking graphic art at school and one was a free hand artist. They made some shirts for their friends and everyone loved them. I loved them too and I loved the idea of putting a picture in the word friend. Put a friend in the word friend. I thought it was a great idea so, I did a copy right on it at the beginning of our Covid lockdown. of course like everyone else we all forgot about it once the lockdown was over. It was just another Covid project.
On 9/11/22 my mother, that I had been taking care of full time for 12 years, passed away and I eventually had to start grief counseling with a psychologist. During this process, I needed to do something creative and time occupying. Somehow friend. came back into my mind. I always wanted to take that i and put any and every kind of friend you could imagine in there, but not a normal friend, a totally creative, originally drawn character by an up and coming artist. I also want to make sure there was a purpose to it all. Cool apparel is great, but they need to be earth friendly, sustainable and made in the USA if possible, with a fair wage. All the good stuff. Since we are going to do good by the products, how about giving back to the community too. Each design can be attached to a charity chosen by the artist making the drawing and receive a percentage of the sale of each shirt. Charity is good for the soul. So a compilation of friendship, art, humor, environmental kindness and charity. The original friends are still the very best of friends and have moved on to bigger and better projects, but still participate when I beg them. Through this process I have been blessed to make so many new friends and have been so loved and supported by so many of my old friends.
Jyl Choate
owner
I am a 53 year old woman who was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. I attended the Lovett School in Atlanta and then The American College in London where I received a BA in Fashion Merchandising and a BA in Business Management. I moved to Istanbul, Turkey when I got married to Taha in my late 20’s and helped run our boutique, cafe and nightclub. We moved back to Atlanta after our daughter Barbie was born and then a few years later we had TJ. I was a PTA, homeroom, soccer, lax mom for years. After my father passed, I became my mothers full time caregiver for 12 years. She passed in 2021. Through grief counseling, I found that I needed to focus my energy somewhere new which is why I started friend. This businesses has become my new friend. The friend that brought me out of grief and showed me how many wonderful new and old friends I have in my life and how precious they are. Thank you for becoming one of our new friends.
TJ Ozkan
the artist
Our in house artist at friend. is TJ Ozkan. He is currently a Product Design major at The New School in New York. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
Find him on instagram: @fahritahaozkanjr
