“Medical scrubs are traditionally baggy, unisex, pajama-like garments constructed of low-grade poplin cotton,” says Debora Carrier, founder and CEO of Twice as Nice Uniforms.
Carrier knows this first hand. As a longtime dental hygienist, she struggled to stay both comfortable and professionally presentable in her chilly dental office, but could not find any uniforms that would enable her to stay warm and comfortable while looking stylish and also professional. So she decided to make one herself, securing a patent for her design in 2013.
It’s not a bad time to be focusing on the healthcare business. With more than 59.2 million workers, the medical industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries globally and most of those workers need scrubs. Spending on scrubs in the United States alone will surpass $532 million in 2015. Even so, there has been little to no change in terms of style, fabric or functionality since they became a mandatory uniform for hospital personnel in the 1980s, says Carrier.
“The medical industry continues to evolve; patients are demanding higher levels of care and medical scrubs must follow suit,” she says.
In addition to wearing scrubs that look drab, clinicians also must suffer the cold, as temperatures in medical facilities are typically kept low to accommodate hospital equipment, says Carrier. To keep warm, workers often layer their uniforms with hoodies or other outerwear, a practice that is both unhygienic and unprofessional in appearance. “These are typically 40-plus-hour-a-week jobs. That’s a significant amount of time to wear baggy, uncomfortable clothes.” In short, she says, “the medical uniform has long been overdue for an overhaul.”
Enter Twice as Nice Uniforms, which has taken a new approach to scrubs by adding a patented, removable, hidden liner made of lightweight performance fabric that is both antimicrobial and moisture-wicking. “This scrub not only looks better, but also regulates the body temperature of the health care clinician, eliminating the need for layers over or under the uniform,” says Carrier. The wearer can also quickly remove the liner (it’s attached with a branded snap tape), which creates two uniforms in one — thus the Twice as Nice name.
Twice as Nice Uniforms also offer an improvement over the boxy fit of many scrubs on the market, which Carrier says typically offer style variations only in color and pattern. Working with fit expert RenÉe Bavineau of Raise the Bar RTB LLC, Twice as Nice Uniforms developed two scrub styles with features designed to flatter every body type, says Carrier.
Twice as Nice Uniforms also feature enhanced fabric and finishes. Its premium scrub fabric is a silky poly-rayon-Spandex blend with two-way stretch that maintains its shape. The liner is interquilt, which Carrier says keeps the wearer looking fresh and fitted all day, and pockets have been strategically placed and structured to accommodate today’s tablets and various sizes of smartphones. With investor funding, Twice as Nice Uniforms is currently in its second production run with a New Jersey-based manufacturer. With this second run, it has launched a men’s line and expanded its color options for its women’s line. The company is growing quickly and using social media and its website to build brand awareness, says Carrier.
Uniforms are marketed online, via local trunk shows at medical professional association gatherings and via a team of brand ambassadors gathered from within the medical community.
