PARKE launched in 2021 out of New York on a simple observation: nobody was making a sweatshirt cut specifically for women rather than scaled down from a men's block. Shorter body, narrower shoulder, a sleeve that does not swallow the hand. That sounds trivial and it is the entire reason the product worked, because a garment worn constantly is judged almost entirely on fit. The brand grew through Instagram and restock alerts rather than through wholesale, which is now the standard playbook and was still novel enough in 2021 to feel like a discovery.

The stripe mockneck sweatshirt in cream and matcha is the most distinctive piece and the one that reads least like basic loungewear. OG varsity hoodie and OG varsity zip up in classic grey and denim are the most recognisable of these parke sweatshirt options. The coastal hoodie in washed indigo is the most casual colour treatment, and the striped rugby sweatshirt in shadow is the heaviest construction. Parke sport graphic hoodie in shadow is the boldest graphic piece, the varsity mocknecks in rose, butterum, grey and white carry the same lettering, and the classic hoodie is the plain version everything else is built from.

A sweatshirt cut this precisely looks best with a straight or wide leg jean or a matching sweatpant, which keeps the proportions relaxed. A baseball cap and a low retro sneaker finish the off-duty version. Parke's own boxer sweatpants are the obvious match if you want the full set.

Washed and overdyed pieces like the coastal hoodie continue to fade for several washes, which is intended and means it will not match a second one bought later. Heavyweight cotton fleece shrinks in length on the first hot wash and a shorter body cut has less length to spare, so wash cool from the start. Mockneck collars stretch out where they are pulled over the head and never fully recover. Cream and light colours pick up makeup at the collar. If you take one thing away, wash everything cool and air dry, because the fit is the product and heat is what ruins it.