FAQ

Buying recycled fabrics reduces the need to create more landfill space, reduces pollution caused by incinerators, and helps make the ocean cleaner, which in turn helps marine life.

Water bottles are made of completely recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, but PETs don't biodegrade; they photodegrade, which means they break down into smaller fragments over time. Those fragments absorb toxins that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, and sicken animals. Plastic trash also absorbs organic ollutants like BPA and PCBs. They may take centuries to decompose while sitting in landfills,, ammounting to endless billions of little environmentally poisonous time bombs.

Our relaxed fit shirts are loose fitting and generously sized. For a slimmer fit, we suggest going down a size. Please refer to our Sizing Chart for additional sizing information.

coLLo is an apparel company created with a unique focus on sun protective athletic performance clothing. Our recently launched product line presently focuses on men's sportswear poLos. As we grow, we will apply our designs and technology to other sports.

coLLo is the Italian word for "coLLar". Our uniquely shaped, extra tall shirt coLLar is a key feature of our men's golf shirts. Our coLLo coLLar™ is jot just for style. It's patented designis shaped to provide maximum protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Because we can! We are a fun-loving team of people who like to think outside the box and approach apparel design and problem solving from a unique and creative perspective. Instead of the usual capitalization and spelling of our company name, we decided to capitalize the two letter “L” characters to symbolize our love of golf. Besides, it’s distinctive and well, fun.

coLLo is a new company, founded in 2016. We may be young, but we bring fresh new ideas to a well-established market, especially for sun protection.

coLLo is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. Our company address is:

coLLo Apparel
895 Production Place
Newport Beach, California 92663

coLLo offers unmatched sun protection plus high performance fabric and comfort. In tests by a leading laboratory, every coLLo men's golf shirt has attained the UPF 50+ rating for maximum sun blocking protection. Clothing rated UPF 50+ is proven to block 95% of the suns burning UV-A and UV-B rays. We accomplish this in two ways: Our patented coLLo coLLars is extra high to cover the neck and protect it from the sun. On average, a golfer can spend two to four hours a day playing outdoors which is adequate time to experience a sun burn. The uniquely shaped coLLar design on every coLLo men's golf shirt protects a highly exposed region from sun damage. The sun protective fabrics also keep you cool with dry wicking and have four-way stretch capabilities for maximum comfort and performance.

coLLo line of men's golf shirts are for sale in public and private golf course pro shops, golf retail shops, and sporting good stores. coLLo golf shirts are also available for purchase on our online store (www.colloapparel.com).

We love the sun. But excessive exposure to the sun’s burning ultraviolet (UV) rays can permanently damage the skin. Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, nearly 3.7 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancer are diagnosed in this country each year and the risks to golfers are exceptionally high. Melanoma, a more dangerous type of skin cancer, will account for more than 73,000 cases of skin cancer in the past year alone.

Being an avid golfer, Tom Hurst, our company founder and president, saw firsthand the cumulative damage and premature aging that long term exposure to sunlight can inflict on fellow golfers. He realized that proper cover, in the form of frequent applications of good sunscreen, wearing a hat, trying to play golf during the lower light hours of the day (and avoiding the most intense burning rays that occur in the mid-day hours), and wearing protective clothing are essential to proper protection from the sun’s burning rays. Tom made it his mission to protect golfers and other outdoor sports lovers from the cumulative effects of the sun’s damaging rays.

Don’t just take our word for it. Every coLLo shirt was carefully analyzed for its sun protection capabilities by SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services Co. Ltd., one of the world’s most respected independent testing labs. SGS is a world leader in measuring the Ultraviolet Protection Factor capabilities, and strictly follows the AATTCC 193-2014 testing protocols for both dry as well as wet and stretched fabrics against UV radiation. After rigorous tests of the fabrics used in coLLo shirts, SGS awarded coLLo with a UPF 50+ designation (Excellent), the highest level of protection for the blocking of UV-A and UV-B burning rays.

Using a UV – Vis Spectrophotometer model, SGS Testing Service performed multiple tests of both dry and wet (and stretched) fabrics used by coLLo for our golf shirts. They washed our shirts multiple times and exposed the fabric to intense UV radiation to simulate the impact of fading and fabric degradation from long-term sunlight, stretching, and repeated washing. SGS Testing Service strictly follows the following industry standards:

• American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) Test Method 183 specifies the protocol for conducting a UV transmittance test;
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D 6544 describes the methods used for evaluation of a fabric’s life cycle UV protection;
• American Society for Testing and Materials D 6603 provides guidelines for labeling sun protective clothing.

In addition, coLLo worked closely with leading fabric suppliers to search for unique athletic fabrics that combine UPF 50+ sun protection, efficient wicking and coolness, along with four-way stretch capabilities for maximum performance and comfort.
We would be happy to share a copy of the SGS testing results by request.

When we designed our men’s golf shirts, we didn’t cut corners. Working on decades of experience, our designers carefully evaluated a number of fit models and body types to develop our athletic and relaxed fit models. We took into account the various heights, weights, body types, shoulder widths and other factors to make sure our shirts fit your body like a glove.

We also searched the world for the best possible fabrics to make our shirts a pleasure to wear. Our men’s golf shirts use a high-quality blend of polyester and elastane jersey fabric that offers a perfect combination of UPF-50+ sun protection, wicking, cooling, four-way stretching, all in a microfiber weave fabric that is amazingly smooth and soft. It can be challenging to make a fabric that wicks perspiration, keeps you cool, offers high performance stretching with maximum sun protection without compromising on comfort. Achieving all this might cost a bit more and is more challenging to make, but you are worth it.

The patent-pending collar design of every coLLo men’s golf shirt is extra high, especially around the back of the neck. This is a part of your body that receives some of the most intense exposure to the sun’s burning rays. In addition, our coLLo coLLar is structured with internal collar stays to assure that it does not collapse and get “floppy” while you play a round of golf, assuring maximum sun protection. At the same time, the soft, stretchable fabric used in every coLLo coLLar assures that your neck will stay cool, dry, and comfortable. And when your neck is on the line to sink that big putt, staying comfortable and keeping cool makes a difference.

Proper clothing is your first line of protection against the sun’s burning rays. Prolonged exposure to bright sunlight and sun transmitted through cloud cover can result in sunburn and premature aging. Worse, the effects of the sun are cumulative and irreversible. Every hour of sun exposure, every sunburn, all adds up over time.

It may surprise you that the sunburns of your past never go away. If you can imagine putting pennies into a piggy bank, every burn you experience keeps getting added to a bank account that eventually results in aged, raisin-like skin, or worse, skin cancer, the most severe being melanoma.

Both sunburn and suntan are caused when ultraviolet rays damage your skin’s DNA, which can be the first step on the pathway to cancer. For every round of golf you play without a hat, sunscreen, and protective clothing under the sun, you are adding more and more damage to your skin’s DNA, eventually triggering the formation of basal cell or other forms of skin cancer. And if that happens, the cancer must be removed with invasive surgery, leaving a terrible scar on the affected area.

But won’t my cotton or regular golf shirt protect me? Sadly, no. A typical cotton T-shirt or golf shirt has a UPF protection factor of only 10, and an UPF of only 5 when wet. Compared with the UPF 50+ protection offered in a coLLo golf shirt, the difference is well, night and day. So while a shirt can give you a bit of protection, under the hot summer sun, wearing a cotton or basic golf shirt can give you a false sense of protection. It’s even worse if you’re playing golf in the tropics or at high altitude.

Some not so fun facts about skin cancer:

• Melanoma is the sixth most common fatal malignancy in the United States, responsible for 4% of all cancer deaths and 6 of every 7 skin cancer-related deaths.
• One in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetimes, which means that each year there are at least one million new cases in the U.S. alone.
• Nonmelanoma skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are also on the rise, with two million new cases every year.
• Your risks for cancer are highest if you get one, heavy dose of sunlight infrequently, or if you constantly expose yourself to lots of sun every day.

To learn more, the Skin Cancer Foundation website has some excellent tips on how to protect yourself, and why leading touring pros take their warnings seriously:

Golf: You’ve got skin in the game
Sun protection tips for athletes and weekend warriors
PGA: skin cancer awareness (YouTube video)

Good question! UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor. It is a rating standard that measures the level of a fabric’s UV protection. If you are familiar with the SPF ratings used for sunscreen products, UPF is similar, except that it is used for rating the protection capability of a fabric. The higher the UPF number, the more sun protection it offers.

A garment with a UPF of 50 only allows 1/50th of the UV radiation falling on the surface of the garment to pass through it. In other words, it blocks 49/50ths or 98% of the UV radiation. By contrast, a cotton T-shirt blocks only 5% of the sun’s burning rays.
All coLLo golf shirts are UPF 50+, the highest possible rating for skin protection.
If you shop around, you will find some well-known brands that offer UPF sun protection. But a closer look will show that almost every other brand has a UPF rating of 30. While that’s pretty good, it’s actually the minimum level recognized by the Skin Cancer Foundation, and does not offer anywhere near the level of protection of UPF 50+ rated fabric.

Frankly, making a UPF 50+ fabric is challenging and expensive, and that alone is why many big brands don’t bother. And when you also need the fabric to be soft, comfortable, have great wicking abilities to keep you cool, along with four-way stretching to help you play your best, it’s a steep requirement. At coLLo, we design shirts that don’t compromise, because you don’t want to compromise your performance or protection. That’s our commitment to you.

Yes. The unique protective design of coLLo coLLar™ is patented by the USPTO.

Offering women's apparel is a high priority for coLLo. We currently offer a women's golf cap (Women's 50 UPF Protection Hat) and more designs are underway for women who deserve the best sun protection, performance, comfort and style. As we grow, so will our women's apparel line.

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Sun protection is important because sun exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer and over one in 5 Americans will get skin cancer in their lifetime. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US; each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon. Just one blistering sunburn in childhood or 5 or more sunburns at any age more than doubles the risk of melanoma later in life. UV radiation from the sun is associated with about 90% of all skin cancers. And to add insult to injury, up to 90% of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun as well.

The good news? Skin cancer is highly preventable with UV protection, including UV protective apparel, sunglasses, sunscreens and reducing sun exposure between 10AM to 4PM. (Source: The Skin Cancer Foundation)

A 2007 review in the medical journal, The Lancet, reported that UV protective clothing and reducing sun exposure are more effective than using sunscreen.

The advantage of coLLo’s sun protection apparel is that our sun protection is mechanical, not chemical and so it does not wash out, rub off or sweat off– they are an intrinsic, non-chemical part of our fabrics.

Part of the problem with sunscreens is that most people neither apply enough sunscreen nor do they reapply frequently enough or 30 minutes before sun exposure for effective chemical absorption. There’s also the stickiness/glop factor and the fact that sunscreen chemicals are absorbed into your body with unclear consequences.

With appropriate sun protective clothing, your sun protection level does not vary. Plus you avoid the 'sticky' factor of sunscreens as well as the scary pollutant factor we're seeing in news headlines about the common sunscreen ingredients that are showing up systemically in our population as well as in our oceans, lakes, and waterways.

SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is a UVB-only sun rating for sunscreens, only.

Basically, SPF testing has some poor person stick their arm in UV light and the time until they get sunburned is measured. If that person sunburns in 5 minutes without sunscreen, but it takes ten times longer (50 minutes) with sunscreen, then that lotion is designated SPF 10. This is a measure of UVB (think burning rays and cancer), not UVA spectrum rays (think aging/skin damage and cancer rays) .

Note that sunscreen manufacturers self-test their products without a standard test protocol or certification, and consumer reports found only 2 of 20 tested provided the SPF protection promised after water immersion, with 18 ranging from 4 - 50% less than claimed. The non-profit organization, The Environmental Working Group (The Environmental Water Group) does independent annual testing of sunscreen safety and effectiveness for UVA and UVB for thousands of sunscreens and is well worth checking.

UPF (UV Protection Factor) is defined specifically for fabrics. It measures how much UVA and UVB radiation gets through the fabric barrier. Standard test procedures must be followed, as defined by several testing agencies (see next section). For example, UPF 50+ (the highest allowable rating) means less than 2% of the UV light gets through. UPF 30 means 1/30 = 3.33% of the incoming UV rays get through to you, etc. So higher UPF ratings have better UV protection.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends sun-protective fabrics with at least UPF 30 for extended sun exposure. They consider a UPF rating of 30-49 to offer very good protection and 50+ excellent protection. Just like regular clothing, however, sun-protective clothing may lose its effectiveness if pulled too tight or stretched out, if it becomes damp or wet, or if it is washed (for UV additives) or worn through

Note: coLLo’s microfiber polyester blend fabrics do not lose UPF ratings when wet, nor does repeated washing affect coLLo’s microfiber polyester-based fabrics.

However, your mileage may vary– infants, children, very fair complected people, those with sun sensitivity (sometimes due to medications, chemotherapy, lupus and other conditions), those in extreme environments (water/snow reflection, high altitude, near equator etc.) should increase their sun protection levels.

The material, thickness, color, whether the fabric is stretched or wet– all affect UV protection levels.  Generally, light-colored, loosely woven fabrics offer less sun protection than dark, tightly woven or fine-gauge knit fabrics. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a dry white cotton tee shirt offers a UPF value of around 5 to 7 (blocks 80 – 86% of UVA and B) and about UPF 3 when wet, or 66% blocking).  A darker green tee shirt may be around UPF 10 when dry. Heavy dark denim offers an estimated UPF value of 1700. Fabrics with a sheen (polyester, nylon, silk) tend to reflect more UV rays than matte natural fibers such as cotton, rayon or wool.

Also, natural fibers tend to lose about 50% of their UV protection level when wet because the fibers relax and there are more ‘gaps’ in the material. Synthetics tend to mat when wet and so usually increase the level of UV protection.  Chemical additives can be used at home or by the manufacturer to increase reflectivity (and thus UV protection) for a certain # of washes. coLLoʼs microfiber polyester blend fabrics do not lose UPF, and sometimes increase UPF ratings when wet, nor does repeated washing affect coLLoʼs microfiber polyester-based fabrics.

No. While melanoma is uncommon in African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is frequently fatal for these populations; primarily because people of color are frequently diagnosed with skin cancer at later stages. These delays mean that skin cancers are often advanced and potentially fatal, whereas most skin cancers are curable if caught and treated in a timely manner.

Skin cancer represents one to two percent of malignancies in African Americans and Asian Indians. Although skin cancer comprises only two to four percent of all cancers in Chinese and Japanese Asians, the incidence is rising. Melanomas in African Americans, Asians, Filipinos, Indonesians, and native Hawaiians most often occur on non-exposed skin with less pigment, with up to 60-75 percent of tumors arising on the palms, soles, mucous membranes and nail regions. Among non-Caucasians, melanoma is a higher risk for children than adults: 6.5 percent of pediatric melanomas occur in non-Caucasians; c.f. skincancer.org.

Where can I find out more about UV protection and preventing skin cancer?
Please check our above sources and the following links for more information.

• Play Safe in the Sun 
• Nat’l Skin Cancer Prevention Education
• The Skin Cancer Foundation 
• PGA Tour Golf & sun protection 
• American Academy of Dermatology
• American Cancer Society

The good news is that skin cancer and UV damage is highly preventable with UV protection.

We’d love to talk with you! You can reach us at:

coLLo Apparel
895 Production Place
Newport Beach, California 92663
info@colloapparel.com
www.colloapparel.com (click or tap on retailer log on)

Great! coLLo is actively looking for qualified sales representatives across the United States and Canada. Let’s start a conversation at:

coLLo Apparel
895 Production Place
Newport Beach, California 92663
info@colloapparel.com
coLLo website – Contact Us

coLLo actively listens to qualified vendors of products or services that can help our company grow. To start a conversation, please email us a one of the two locations shown below. When you do, please clearly state who you are, the nature of your business, and what you have to offer so that we can evaluate your request.

coLLo Apparel
895 Production Place
Newport Beach, California 92663
info@colloapparel.com
coLLo website – Contact Us

We are sorry, but we cannot accept unsolicited ideas for legal reasons.

We would be happy to help you. Please contact us at:

Email: info@colloapparel.com
or
Web: coLLo website – Contact Us

Email: info@colloapparel.com

or

Web:coLLo website – Contact Us

We would be honored to speak with you! You can reach us at:

coLLo Apparel
895 Production Place
Newport Beach, California 92663
info@colloapparel.com
coLLo website – Contact Us