Doctors and nurses aren’t necessarily known for their fashionable work attire. But FIGS, the scrubs maker that went public in May and has nearly doubled in value since then, is trying to change that.
“We view ourselves as a lifestyle brand for on shift and off shift,” said Trina Spear, co-founder and co-CEO of the company, adding that FIGS is just getting started.
Spear told CNN’s Alison Kosik on “Markets Now” that FIGS still has a lot more room to grow, especially overseas. She added that a key factor about the company’s business is that there are very high replenishment rates, as people in the medical profession always need new uniforms.
FIGS currently only sells its medical garb in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Spear said the global healthcare apparel market is a $79 billion opportunity and that FIGS has just a 2% share of the US market.
“Many healthcare professionals around the world are excited for FIGS,” Spear said.
Still, the company has faced some growing pains — including a pretty big public relations miscue. FIGS was widely criticized last year after a video ad made fun of doctors of osteopathic medicine (or DOs) and women health care professionals in particular.
The now deleted ad showed a model pretending to be a DO who was reading a book called “Medical Terminology for Dummies”… upside down.
Spear said the ad was a “marketing misstep” and that the company immediately apologized for it and wants to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again.
“We are all about celebrating our healthcare professionals,” Spear said. “Healthcare professionals are the new icons.”
