How to set a <li> as active with php - php

Question

I'm editing a photography website with a portfolio with links at the top to filter by: View All, Fashion, Family, Weddings, etc.
I'd like to remove "View All" and make "Fashion" (the next list item) set as "active". I'm able to remove the "View All" label by taking it out of the php but it still doesn't set Fashion as active.
I'm using the Miami theme.
I'd appreciate any help!
HTML:
<div id="filters" class="fillter-wrap">
<ul>
<li>
<button class="but activbut active-fillter" data-filter="*">View All</button>
</li>
<li>
<button class="but" data-filter=".fltr-fashion">Fashion</button>
</li>
<li>
<button class="but" data-filter=".fltr-families-couples">Family</button>
</li>
</ul>
PHP:
// filter
if( $filter=='center' ){
$filter_html = "<div id='filters' class='fillter-wrap'>
<ul>
<li>
<button class='but active-fillter' data-filter='*'>View All</button>
</li>
$filter_html
</ul>
</div>";
}
else if( $filter=='toggle' ){
$filter_html = "<div id='filters' class='port5-filters fillter-wrap marg-lg-b15'>
<div class='clearfix show-filter'>
<div class='filter-button'>
<div class='w-embed'>
<i class='fa fa-filter'></i>
</div>
</div>
<div class='filter-effect'>
<span class='filter-txt'>Hide</span><span class='filter-txt-hide'>".esc_html__('Show', 'miami')."</span>
<span class='filter-static'>".esc_html__('Filter', 'miami')."</span>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>
<button class='but active-fillter' data-filter='*'>".esc_html__('', 'miami')."</button>
</li>
$filter_html
</ul>
</div>";
}
else{
$filter_html = "";
}
return "<div class='main-categories n-marg-b30'>
<div class='row'>
$filter_html
<div class='izotope-container col-".abs($columns)." popup-gallery $space'>
<div class='grid-sizer'></div>
$items
</div>
</div>
</div>";
}

Answer 1

Would it be something like this...?
<div id="filters" class="fillter-wrap">
<ul>
<li>
<button class="but activbut active-fillter" data-filter=".fltr-fashion">Fashion</button>
</li>
<li>
<button class="but" data-filter=".fltr-families-couples">Family</button>
</li>
</ul>
Edit: Just realised I may have misunderstood the question. Can you tell us how $filter_html is created? I am not familiar with the miami theme.