Fashion: From Scrubs to the Slopes: How FIGS Is Redefining Performancewear at the Winter Olympics

What Is the “Medical Meets Performance” Trend?

FIGS’ latest move—outfitting Team USA’s medical staff at the 2026 Winter Olympics—signals the rise of a new category in apparel: performancewear for essential professionals. Once confined to hospitals, scrubs are now entering global arenas, merging utility, innovation, and national pride.

• Healthcare on the global stage: FIGS becomes the first-ever scrubs brand to stand alongside Ralph Lauren and Nike at the Olympics, a milestone that elevates the medical profession into the cultural spotlight.

• From clinic to competition: The brand’s custom Olympic collection includes thermal scrubs, outerwear, and accessories engineered for Alpine conditions, reflecting a broader trend toward technical, versatile workwear.

• Function meets fashion: The collaboration showcases how brands are infusing style into professional gear—turning essential apparel into aspirational lifestyle symbols.

• Brand as movement: FIGS’ presence at Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo isn’t just branding—it’s a statement that caregivers are athletes of resilience, deserving recognition on the world’s biggest stage.

Insight: The boundaries between workwear, sportswear, and lifestyle apparel are dissolving—driven by consumers who want purpose and performance in every piece they wear.

Why It Is Trending: The Rise of “Performance Professionalism”

FIGS’ Olympic partnership reflects how professional identity is being rebranded through innovation and cultural storytelling.

• Healthcare as heroism: Following years of post-pandemic reverence, healthcare workers are seen as national icons—making this partnership both symbolic and aspirational.

• Design meets discipline: FIGS applies the same technical rigor found in athletic gear—thermal layering, flexible fabric, ergonomic design—to professional uniforms.

• Cultural repositioning: By appearing alongside brands like Ralph Lauren, FIGS shifts medical apparel from niche to mainstream, aligning healthcare with fashion and performance.

• Global influence: FIGS’ multi-year deal with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee cements its role as a global ambassador of functional fashion and wellness-driven design.

Insight: Workwear is no longer defined by its setting—it’s defined by its mission, emotion, and engineering.

Overview: Healthcare Heroes Become Cultural Icons

The 2026 Winter Olympics mark a historic milestone for FIGS, the billion-dollar brand that reinvented scrubs into premium professionalwear. By equipping 150 members of Team USA’s medical team, FIGS merges national symbolism with high-performance design—blurring the line between medical precision and athletic innovation.

Each kit includes red, white, and blue scrubs, outerwear, scarves, and gloves, adapted for Alpine weather. FIGS also constructed a dedicated wellness and recovery hub for the medical team at the Team USA House, situated alongside Nike and Ralph Lauren spaces—cementing its place among cultural heavyweights.

Insight: FIGS’ Olympic presence reflects a powerful evolution—professionals are no longer behind the scenes; they’re part of the spectacle.

Detailed Findings: Scrubs as a Symbol of Modern Heroism

FIGS’ strategy redefines professional identity through fashion, storytelling, and technology.

• Technical innovation in apparel: Using high-grade thermal fabrics and ergonomic designs, FIGS reimagines scrubs as performancewear engineered for extreme conditions.

• Narrative of purpose: The campaign highlights the unsung heroes behind athletic excellence—the medical experts who enable record-breaking performance.

• Cultural visibility: FIGS’ appearance beside legacy brands democratizes the Olympic narrative—broadening representation beyond athletes to include caregivers and healers.

• Commercial scalability: The limited-edition Team USA collection will also be available for consumers, creating a bridge between symbolic apparel and everyday wearability.

Insight: In the new performance economy, care, endurance, and excellence are all athletic traits.

Key Success Factors: The E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. Framework

FIGS’ success rests on emotional intelligence as much as innovation—combining empathy with engineering.

• E – Elevation: Elevates essential workers to global cultural icons.

• M – Material Innovation: Advances textiles with comfort, resilience, and adaptability.

• P – Partnership: Aligns with high-visibility institutions like the Olympics for credibility.

• A – Aspiration: Turns everyday uniforms into emblems of pride and excellence.

• T – Technology: Integrates technical fabrics for performance-level durability.

• H – Humanization: Shifts the narrative from “uniform” to “identity.”

• Y – Youthful Brand Energy: Appeals to younger professionals seeking style, comfort, and purpose.

Insight: The future of professionalwear lies in fusing human empathy with technical performance.

Key Characteristics of the Trend: “Athletic Precision for Everyday Heroes”

This trend celebrates the convergence of athletic design principles and professional purpose.

• Purpose-driven performance: Apparel built for those who work under pressure—whether on slopes or in surgery rooms.

• Emotional craftsmanship: Every garment is designed to inspire pride and performance equally.

• Heritage meets modernity: American craftsmanship reinterpreted through innovation, representing both tradition and evolution.

• Functionality as luxury: Comfort, warmth, and utility become the new premium metrics in apparel design.

Insight: Performance is no longer confined to the field—it’s woven into every thread of purposeful design.

Market and Cultural Signals: “The Rise of Heroic Workwear”

FIGS’ Olympic collaboration exemplifies a larger cultural reappraisal of essential professions.

• The new celebrity class: Healthcare professionals are now part of the broader narrative of excellence, endurance, and representation.

• Blurring of categories: From Lululemon’s lab coats to On Running’s medical collabs, the market for functional professionalwear is expanding fast.

• Fashion with empathy: Consumers want brands that reflect values—integrity, service, and contribution—not just aesthetics.

• Athleisure 3.0: A shift toward “purpose-leisure”—gear that performs in both professional and lifestyle contexts.

Insight: The prestige of performance has shifted—from physical competition to human contribution.

Description of Consumers: “The Purpose-Driven Professionals”

FIGS’ target audience reflects a new wave of emotionally intelligent, value-centered professionals.

• Who they are: Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers who see their work as both vocation and identity.

• Age: 25–45 years old; digital natives with wellness and design sensibilities.

• Gender: Predominantly female (70%+), though the brand appeals across gender lines with unisex styles.

• Income: Middle- to upper-middle-income professionals who prioritize quality, comfort, and status in their daily wear.

• Lifestyle: Health-conscious, purpose-driven, community-oriented, and aspirational; they seek brands that reflect meaning and mastery.

Insight: The new professional generation wants to look as exceptional as they perform.

How the Trend Is Changing Consumer Behavior: “Workwear Becomes Lifestylewear”

Consumers now expect professional apparel that mirrors lifestyle fashion—versatile, stylish, and empowering.

• From uniform to expression: Professionals view apparel as a form of personal branding, not mere function.

• From backline to spotlight: Medical professionals embrace public visibility as a form of recognition and respect.

• From utility to identity: Functional design now carries emotional and social meaning.

• From compliance to confidence: Performancewear enhances how people feel at work—energized, seen, and valued.

Insight: Apparel is becoming a medium for empowerment—what you wear reflects how you serve.

Implications Across the Ecosystem: “The Purposewear Revolution”

FIGS’ Olympic debut redefines what it means to “dress for purpose.”

• For Consumers: They gain apparel that blends comfort, pride, and innovation—redefining the meaning of professional identity.

• For Brands: Purpose and performance are the new status symbols—luxury through utility, not excess.

• For Retailers: Expect a rise in hybrid product categories—workwear-meets-activewear that extends into lifestyle retail.

• For Society: The collaboration elevates caregiving as cultural capital, spotlighting the unsung champions behind world achievements.

Insight: The next luxury movement celebrates functionality, integrity, and inspiration.

Areas of Innovation: “The Convergence of Care and Performance”

The FIGS model inspires new innovation across multiple sectors.

• Smart textiles: Adaptive materials that regulate temperature and motion for long shifts.

• Cross-category collaborations: Partnerships between sportswear and professionalwear brands to drive functional fashion.

• Community-driven design: Co-creation with medical professionals to ensure authenticity and inclusivity.

• Hybrid retail spaces: FIGS’ community hubs redefine stores as social, educational, and emotional centers.

Insight: The next era of design innovation will merge performance, empathy, and purpose.

Summary of Trends: “The New Frontier of Purposewear”

The FIGS x Team USA partnership symbolizes how purpose, performance, and prestige are converging. Apparel is no longer categorized by use—it’s defined by impact.

• Core Consumer Trend — “Performance with Purpose”Apparel that empowers professionals to perform at their best—functionally and emotionally.

• Core Social Trend — “Heroic Representation”Celebrating healthcare professionals as cultural icons alongside athletes and creators.

• Core Strategy — “From Utility to Visibility”Turning workwear into a form of recognition and identity.

• Core Industry Trend — “Purposewear Ecosystem”Blending technical apparel, design innovation, and social storytelling.

• Core Consumer Motivation — “Empowerment Through Apparel”Clothing that enhances confidence, comfort, and pride.

• Core Insight — “Care as Performance”The dedication of healthcare professionals is as athletic as any Olympic feat.

• Trend Implication — “The Future of Workwear Is Inspirational”Uniforms will evolve into lifestyle symbols of excellence, purpose, and national pride.

Insight: FIGS isn’t just dressing medical teams—it’s redefining what professionalism looks and feels like in the modern era.

Final Thought: The New Performancewear Paradigm

FIGS’ presence at the Winter Olympics marks a cultural turning point—where care meets competition and fashion meets functionality. By elevating medical professionals to the global stage, FIGS has expanded the definition of performance, proving that excellence isn’t limited to athletes—it lives in every act of care.

Insight: The most powerful uniform of the future won’t just symbolize skill—it will symbolize service.

Source: https://www.inc.com/ali-donaldson/how-this-brand-is-launching-a-major-partnership-at-the-2026-winter-olympics/91256309