This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
If you’ve ventured into Wampus at all this year, you’ve probably noticed girls donning pastel sweatshirts with the word “Parke” written in big college block font in all caps. If you’re like me, you might’ve started wondering which park it is, and why it’s spelled with an E?
After seeing it absolutely everywhere and being genuinely confused about where Parke was, I did my research and eventually found out Parke is a person, not a place.
Chelsea Parke, the visionary behind the brand, is inspired by simplicity and well-made, unfussy fashion. She launched her namesake brand four years ago. Since then, her name has been littered across college campuses and beyond.
Parke always knew she wanted to be in fashion, not just as a passive contributor but as an entrepreneur and a pioneer in the way society as a whole views clothes. Her brand centers on simplicity and high-quality basics that defy the trend cycle, so no one is looking at something they bought six months ago and questioning their sanity before shoving it into a trash bag labeled “Give Away.”
What makes the brand interesting isn’t that it’s loud or flashy; it’s kind of the opposite. In her view, nothing looks more put together than a crisp white shirt paired with perfectly fitting jeans, and that mindset shaped the brand from the beginning. Parke 1.0 started with upcycled vintage denim, inspired by her mom’s love of ’90s True Religion jeans and Chelsea’s teenage habit of obsessively tracking down the styles her mom used to wear. Her brand combined the worn, comfortable, effortlessly classy look you’d spend hours scouring racks at your local Goodwill for pieces that were, above all, built to last.
Parke, as a brand, was always about the chaos of everyday life. The clothes reflect that with each piece being put together yet gloriously unpretentious, something you could wear running out the door to get groceries or an early morning coffee without, as my mom says, “schlepping about.”
These unremarkable moments were just the thing that began to generate buzz about the brand in the first place. Chelsea would post her “Day in the Life” videos with her hair in a messy bun, running on six hours of sleep with a matcha in hand. Yet somehow, she looked put together. These candid conversations are what quietly began building buzz for the brand. Her look was intentional, stylish, and most importantly, achievable.
Anyone can have their fifteen minutes of fame, especially with TikTok algorithms and trend cycles, yet Parkes’ influence is pervasive with uniformly steady growth. How is this happening? Well, my hot take is that the product is worth the price, not just for the sweatshirt itself, but for the process and all the small details that make something by Parke feel special, from the embroidery on the sleeves to the intentional branding. Nowadays, you’ll pay $200 for something with Target-level quality. By comparison, when this arrives in the mail, your expectations are far exceeded. The weight feels substantial, and it is by far the most comfortable sweatshirt I’ve ever put on my body. The only critique I have is that I’m almost paranoid about getting it dirty or compromising its out-of-the-box beauty.
Further, Parke has created a roller coaster-like thrill for buyers. The drops happen at a specific time with limited inventory that sells out in minutes. The knowledge that it’s in your cart is an accomplishment in and of itself, and creates the most intense lock-in you’ve ever had while buying something online. The sheer joy of getting the item in your cart alone is thrilling, each moment builds on itself as you race to pile in as many as possible and hope that by the time you get through the waiting to checkout at least one of them is still in stock in your size. The triumph that you feel is strange, oftentimes people check out and are like, “Okay, there goes X amount of money,” but with Parke, you feel victorious.
The anticipation of waiting for it in the mail feels endless. When it arrives, you are joyous. I cannot begin to describe the almost prayer-like reverence I had taking it out of the packaging, determined that nothing would ever happen to my dear, sweet sweatshirt. This process creates a community of dedicated buyers who are excited to wear their medal of honor. The biggest smile I’ve ever gotten from someone in West Campus was from a girl wearing a sweatshirt from the same drop as me. It’s more than a smile, it’s a “we did that,” a shared experience that unintentionally creates community.
Maybe that’s the real reason Parke has taken over campuses like UT. It creates a micro-community of people in the know. It’s not just about “Parke” itself. It’s about the feeling that comes with it, the thrill of getting one, the quiet confidence of wearing it, and the knowing smiles exchanged between strangers who recognize the lettering. With fashion and faster scrolling, there’s something comforting about clothes that feel intentional and familiar. If you happen to spot one in Wampus, now you know exactly what the “E” stands for. And please, congratulate its wearer on her conquest.