Diagnosis: The Scrubs Market Is Comatose. The Cure? Add Fashion And Function

Trina Spear first discovered the sleepy but lucrative scrubs market when she did a private equity deal for a large U.S. scrubs maker. Then a mutual friend introduced her to Heather Hasson, a fashion designer who was working on scrub designs that featured high-tech fabrics and trendy silhouettes. The two started Figs, the first e-commerce site to sell scrubs directly to consumers. They weren’t the only ones who saw a smart idea—early investors included Lululemon’s ex-CEO Christine Day and actor Will Smith. They expect revenue this year to top $100 million.

- Lindsay Blakely

 TINA: Scrubs are a $10 billion industry in the United States— $60 billion worldwide. The beauty of this industry is that it’s stable. Thousands of medical professionals enter the workforce every year and 90 percent have to buy their own uniforms. But the product has never really changed. HEATHER: My first experience with scrubs was when I was premed in college. I’m 5'8" and 116 pounds, and there I was, working on cadavers in these extra-large, boxy, unisex scrubs. Medicine wasn’t my strength, so I went into design. After seven years of running my own high-end handbag company in Italy, I decided I wanted to do something that would give back. I started a couple of philanthropic ventures, outfitting kids in school uniforms and then making and donating scrubs to doctors and nurses in Africa. When I came back to the States, I met up with a nurse friend and she was wearing big, boxy scrubs, and I said, “Wait. They’re still like this?” She had a closet full of these things that she had picked out from a cardboard box at a medical supply store— which is also, by the way, where you buy things like knee braces and walkers. All of the traditional scrub makers sell only to retailers. The experience is terrible. I altered her scrubs so they fit better and soon heard from friends of hers who also wanted alterations. That’s when I knew there was so much to change in this industry.