The Summer Olympics are nothing if not an amalgam of highs and lows for the world’s best athletes. They weather wins and wipeouts, pride and pain, shattered records and shattered bones. As Team USA Olympians and Paralympians take the stage in Paris in the coming weeks, medical staff will be there to support every feat and fall—in style.
For the first time, the more than 250 health care professionals who form the Team USA Medical Team have a uniform. Figs, a direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand—and the first company led by two female cofounders to go public—partnered with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to break another barrier.
“This is the first time ever that a medical team has been outfitted for any country for the Olympic Games,” Figs cofounder and CEO Trina Spear tells Fortune. “It’s very much about something that speaks to our overall mission and values as a company from day one: putting health care professionals in the spotlight that they deserve. Usually they’re behind the scenes, but not anymore. This is really about showcasing the people who are serving all of us, serving humanity, and in this case, serving athletes.”
When Spear and Figs cofounder Heather Hasson broached the idea with the USOPC, they were surprised to learn that not only did the Team USA medical staff lack a single outfitter, they also were responsible for their own dress at the Games. The committee, Spear says, was just as eager to find a way to lift up the health care workers who help keep Olympians and Paralympians at the top of their game.
“They act as a team, supporting all the athletes. They should be outfitted as a team,” Spear says. “It’s historic for them as well.”
Team USA medical staff are just as excited about their Olympic threads as Figs was to create them, Spear says. Dr. Gloria Beim, a Colorado-based orthopedic surgeon who has been a Team USA physician since the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, is grateful for the company’s backing.
Courtesy of Figs
“When I was first approached by Figs about this partnership, my immediate thought was, ‘What an amazing opportunity to spotlight health care professionals, especially post-COVID,’” Beim said in a statement exclusive to Fortune. “As a surgeon in a small town, I see my patients outside of the hospital and feel their appreciation regularly. However, my colleagues across the country don’t all get that level of respect for the work that they do every single day.
“What most people don’t understand is the level of training and sacrifice that goes into becoming a health care professional. And it’s not just our own lives impacted, but our loved ones as well. There’s nothing that fills my soul more than helping people.”
Stars, stripes, and stethoscopes
This isn’t Figs’ first foray into professional sports medicine—the company already outfits medical staff caring for the English Premier League’s Everton Football Club—but it marks the company’s biggest marketing maneuver. Its multiyear deal with the USOPC extends through the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
Figs kicked off its campaign Thursday with a video ad called “Anatomy of a Champion.” The tagline: “It takes heart to build bodies that break records.” Set to the tune of the anatomic children’s song “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” the video showcases 14 health care professionals and half a dozen athletes, current and former Olympians and Paralympians included. Medical staff, of course, are sporting the limited-edition Figs x Team USA Medical Team scrubs.
Coming in solid cherry red, optic white, and navy blue, the scrubs are clean-cut and practical. Simple touches, like a jumpsuit for women and a high collar for men, add a futuristic vibe. The medical staff modeling the apparel in promotional photos look like they’re on a mission, which they are.
“It goes back to what we’ve always done, really a focus on function,” Spear tells Fortune. “We have a pocketing architecture for everything we create—where you put your stethoscope, your alcohol swabs, your sutures, your stitches, your wraps, all your tapes—everything that you need to perform at your best.”
Spear adds, “It’s pretty awesome that Figs creates pockets and zippers for people to hold the tool that will save someone’s life. That intention has always been a part of what we do. And, in this case, it’s on a global stage [so] we had to get it right.”
Courtesy of Figs
Comfort was also top of mind in designing the apparel for health care workers, says Spear, who envisioned them going from surgical suites to Olympic sidelines. The scrubs are meant to be streamlined, breathable, and unifying.
“Everyone [needs] health care professionals to ensure that we all can live healthy and prosperous lives, whether you’re an athlete winning a gold medal on that podium, or somebody who’s getting a mental health exam or a gynecological exam,” Spear says. “Health care professionals keep our bodies going, and that’s our goal—to celebrate them and make sure that they get a podium of their own.”
If you’re feeling patriotic, you don’t have to be an Olympic health care provider to don the Team USA Medical Team uniform; gear is available for purchase on the Figs website.
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