By Luisa Polita & Vy Le
In many places, healthcare professionals do not have access to clean, comfortable medical apparel necessary to perform at the best of their ability. FIGS is a B corporation that focuses on changing the healthcare experience of medical professionals by refashioning the medical apparel industry. It was founded in 2013 by Heather Hasson and Trina Spear who make their scrub sets with antimicrobial fabric technology that ensures durability, reduces infection rates, and are odor-resistant and stain repellent. FIGS sells scrubs, lab coats, and underscrubs to both women and men who can try on a free sample and then buy them through the FIGS website.
Through an initiative called Threads for Threads, FIGS also donates a pair of scrubs to a healthcare provider in need for every pair of scrubs bought. Generally, these healthcare providers don’t have access to scrubs, and simply perform their work in every-day clothes. By providing these scrubs, they can operate in sanitary clothing that reduces the chances of possible infections. FIGS found that by introducing scrubs to these clinics, the infection rates decreased by 66%. FIGS has donated scrubs to healthcare personnel in 21 countries and is planning on two more in the upcoming future. FIGS partners with incredible organizations such as UCLA Health, Mount Sinai, International Medical Corps, and Stony Brooks University to reach this mission. In addition to donating scrubs, FIGS educates the poor-resource healthcare personnel on how to use and care for the scrubs, which allows them to perform at the best of their ability without the burden of unsanitary clothing.
FIGS has a lot of capacity to scale and grow. As of right now, they are a small company of about 35 employees; however, they can expand their market to not just medical professionals in the affluent market, but also, medical students in post-secondary education and medical professionals in poor-resource areas. As their market expands, FIGS can invest in technology to improve the rate at which the scrubs are made and partner up with grassroots organizations or locals in poor-resource areas to manufacture the product.
