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Over the years, I hope you have discovered some great companies that do put in the effort to plant trees and give back to charities while creating ethically sound and beautiful clothes. And as a zero waste blogger, I get approached by many new companies that want me to write an article about their eco-friendly product.
This always gets my alarm bells up since I also know that it is a new trend to be green and wear sustainable clothes. The same happened for Colorful Standard since I had not heard about them before this purchase. After extensive research, I let them send me one of their sweaters, and this is the Colorful Standard review. Are they an eco-conscious company, or did they just jump on the green marketing wave to cash in? Let’s find out.
Who is Colorful Standard?
Colorful Standard is a minimal clothing brand that makes organic and sustainable fashion with its headquarters in Denmark. The founder Tue Deleuran looks to push the boundaries of eco-conscious fashion. They aim to be as transparent as possible, as the brand integrates environmentally friendly dye and recycled packing into their products. The clothes are designed in Denmark, made in Portugal and shipped worldwide.
Their lineup is simple designs with bright colors that stand out. The shop’s main focus is on basics, like T-shirts, Sweaters, Socks, Boxers and more. They offer free shipping if the purchase price meets the limit, which changes from country to country.
I always check on goodonyou.eco, a website that compares many fashion companies on how ethical their clothes are made, how well the workers are being paid, and if it is cruelty-free.
To my surprise, Colorful Standard is even a staff pick from goodonyou.eco. Well, after further investigating, I am not that surprised anymore.
The quality of Colorful Standard
Good quality fabric is the most important and essential part of your clothing. If you want to live a sustainable lifestyle, buying high-quality products that last a long time and that you potentially even pass down is the best way to do this.
When you check out Trustpilot reviews about Colorful Standard, you might be put off and don’t want to buy from them. Some complained that they had to return it and pay more than the item was worth. Others complain about the quality of the garments and that the color fades after a couple of washes, but that is only a few people, and I wouldn’t make my final decision based on this information, so let’s dive in deeper.
Material
Their products are made from 100% organic cotton and 100% recycled merino wool. This allows the clothes to use less energy when being made and reduces the amount of water being used. Using recycled materials is a great way to reduce the carbon footprint that clothing usually has when made from new materials.
I have received their quarter zip sweater, and I have no complaints. It feels nice, looks good, and I find the quality good. It goes for 80 euros.
Shipping and returns
Purchases of 200 euros or more are free from shipping fees; otherwise, the delivery fee is 30 euros which is a bit hefty if you ask me.
You can return your clothes within ten working days if you are unhappy with your purchase, but they are not very clear on the cost of return or costs and shipping.
In fact, the more I dig into the company, I keep reading about reviews where people say that you can not return the garments in a physical store, which I find very backward and kind of doesn’t flow with the concept of being sustainable.
Why would you have to mail something that requires fuel and workers, logistics and so on and only adds to carbon emissions? This should be straightforward to return your clothes to the store—secondly, you have to pay for your return.
How sustainable is Colorful Standard?
As we learned, they are using 100% organic cotton and recycled materials. Colorful standard uses recycled wool in their beanies and recycled merino wool for some other products.
Everything is dyed with the Oeko Tex Certified dyes. In short, that means that the dye doesn’t involve any harmful chemicals, which is great since your skin, the biggest organ in our bodies, will otherwise absorb those chemicals. The dye is environmentally friendly and looks very vibrant.
Colorful Standard Review: Packaging
Your order comes in an FSC-certified cardboard box, which is the gold standard for wood-based products since it means no animal, human, or forest has been harmed. The wood is grown specifically to be harvested and not to reforest.
The boxes are sturdy enough to be reused or sent back for a refund.
The labeling is made from recycled polyester and plastic, which I would also like to see gone. I was a bit surprised when I received my package and found the sweater wrapped in a plastic bag. I get it the bag is made from recycled materials, but why could they not just use thin paper or even better seaweed packaging?
Find out about some great environmentally safe packaging solutions in this article.
The good news is that it is made from recycled plastic, but it is still plastic.
How well do Colorful Standard’s clothes fit?
My size is medium, and I am 181cm or 5’11” tall and weighing in on 70kg. The fit is a bit loose, which I prefer on a sweater like this. Since it has tighter cuffs, I like to have more wiggle room in the arm area. There is nothing worse than pointing at something beautiful at the horizon, and half your arm is revealed. I know first-world problems here, but I think it is worth mentioning.
Washing and Care
The clothes come prewashed; this means they should fade over time, and you can put them on the right out of the box, which I love. I am always like an excited little kid when I receive a parcel in the mail and want to try it on or wear it right away.
These are the labels for the three-quarter zip sweater:
When you wash your clothes, the label recommends only
Wash at 40 degrees.
Tumble drying is allowed.
Do not bleach.
Iron at medium
Do not dry clean
Labor Practices at Colorful Standard
Since their factories are in Portugal, they adhere to high EU standards controlling the quality and the wages paid to the workers. This difference often adds extra costs and a higher price tag to the clothes since they aren’t cheaply produced in China.
Let’s talk about overconsumption
They heavily promote this on the website, which is right up my alley. I guess I fit into the category of a minimalist, especially when it comes to my wardrobe.
I am down to owning a few high-quality shirts from Fioboc (check out my review here) and one high-quality long-sleeve shirt from Pact, which I love and you can learn more about Pact and get some amazing discounts here.
The fashion industry is the second biggest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry. Less than 1% of clothing is recycled, and most of our “recycled” clothes are being shipped to third-world countries where it is either being resold or dumped in landfills or, worse, finding their way into the environment.
The industry produces an estimated 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, and according to Colorful Standard, 80% of the clothing purchased during the Black Friday Sale ends up as waste. This is also the reason why you won’t find any promotions or deals at Colorful Standard and only timeless basic clothing that lasts.
What People are saying about them
The Trustpilot review gets 2.9 stars out of 5 from 67 customers.
The Facebook review gets 3.5 stars out of 5 from 35 customers.
I know this isn’t much, but the thread that seems to be going on here is that customers often have a bad customer service experience, especially regarding returns. And a lot of people say that the quality isn’t as high as they claim.
These are often people that have a bad experience in the first place with either delayed shipping or even misplaced parcels. I can only speak for myself, and I highly trust goodonyou.eco for their research. Still, in the end, I am here to help and give feedback to make better buying decisions regarding sustainable clothing. I can recommend the sweater I received, and I did not have any issues. However, I wasn’t planning on returning it.
Let me know your thoughts. Did you buy from them already and what was your experience?
