FIGS (apparel)

FIGS is an American healthcare apparel brand based in Santa Monica, California. The company sells scrubs that come in a variety of colors and styles, as well as a number of other products for healthcare professionals. It was founded in 2013 by Heather Hasson and Trina Spear who both serve as co-CEOs.
History.
FIGS was founded by Heather Hasson and Trina Spear in Los Angeles, California in 2013. Hasson had the business idea when she realized that, unlike companies such as Lululemon, Under Armor, and Nike, that make clothes for athletes, there were no companies making fitted uniforms for health care professionals. Spear worked on Wall Street at the time and helped Hasson develop the business idea. Hasson and Spear started the company using only their personal savings. They designed an alternative to the common scrubs available. Initially, they sold their product out of the parking lots of hospitals, getting feedback from staff.
In 2013, Hasson and Spear raised a $2 million seed round so that they would not run out of product. In 2014 and 2015, they raised an additional $3 million. In 2016, the Lululemon-backed venture capital fund, Campfire, led the Series A round in FIGS, through which an additional $5 million was raised.
In 2017, Thomas Tull, businessman and founder of Legendary Pictures, became the company's majority owner after he invested $65 million in FIGS. Others who have invested in FIGS include Will Smith, Irving Place Capital, former Lululemon CEO Christine Day, and Mohr Davidow Ventures.
The company's headquarters are in Santa Monica, California. In December 2015, FIGS was selected to join the Endeavor network, a startup accelerator and mentorship program. As of 2018 the company had raised a total of $75 million in funding. FIGS was recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States by "Inc." in 2018, with the company having a three-year growth of 9,948%.
In 2019, FIGS opened a pop-up shop in Los Angeles. The company employed close to 100 workers by 2019. They added face masks to their stock in response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The company expanded sales to Australia and the United Kingdom to meet the surging demand for medical equipment of all kinds caused by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
Operation.
FIGS sells scrubs and other associated medical apparel and products for all types of medical professionals. The apparel comes in a variety of different colors and styles, including scrub tops, scrub pants, underscrubs, lab coats, activewear, and loungewear. The scrubs are made with a proprietary material that is antimicrobial for odor resistance with four-way stretch and pockets.
The apparel are sold directly to consumers online from the company's website, rather than in medical supply stores as is common for scrubs. The company predicted revenue of over $250 million in 2020,mostly through the sale of its upgraded scrubs. The company's warehouse is in City of Industry, California.
Charitable operations.
FIGS also operates the Threads for Threads program which donates sets of scrubs to countries with limited access to medical apparel. The program includes giving trips and results in the donations of scrubs around the world. By 2019 the initiative had donated over 500,000 sets of scrubs in over 35 countries.
In spring 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the company donated 30,000 sets of scrubs to New York hospitals Bellevue and Mount Sinai, and sent 100 care packages to health care workers every week. FIGS contracted the production of over one million N95 masks and also donated them to hospitals and medical professionals.
Marketing.
In October 2020, FIGS released a promotional video targeting female osteopathic physicians. The video showed a woman in neon pink scrubs reading a book titled "Medical Terminology for Dummies" while holding it upside down and a camera cut that zoomed in on a blank badge labelled with the letters "DO". The video was taken down after criticism from medical professionals, noting an exhibition of gender bias by the company. Criticism included calling the video "unforgivable" for its promotion of stereotypes of osteopathic medicine and female doctors. Medical organizations have also criticized the video, including the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, which said the advertisement showed "in 2020, women physicians and doctors of osteopathic medicine are still attacked in thoughtless and ignorant marketing campaigns" and demanded a public apology from the company. The company responded to the criticism on Twitter stating "We dropped the ball and we are so sorry. We love you guys and we’ll always listen to what you have to say!" The response led to further criticism of the company as it was accused of issuing a non-apology and has led to a boycott of the brand.