I think we can create the best lab coat in the world, together.
Why should we accept ill-fitting, boring, non-functional and potentially unsafe lab coats as the norm when we're spending a large fraction of our lives in them doing invaluable research for the world?
The Lab Coat Project is using a data-driven approach, crowdsourced from STEM researchers like YOU, to design a lab coat at an affordable price that you can look and feel great in.
Data-driven design
Fill out the 8-minute form
to be represented
When I started in my lab for grad school, I was told “grab a lab coat out of that pile that you like best”. I found an XL (I’m a M) and later upgraded to a L when someone graduated the next year. I was swimming in a chemical-stained white-ish lab coat designed for no specific purpose other than to loosely look like a scientist.
The wide drooping cuffs caused me to knock over and shatter glass graduated cylinders in the cramped fume hood on multiple occasions, costing me hours of lab time in clean-up. My pens and tweezers didn’t have a good home in the coat so in my 3-room lab they were rarely within arm’s reach. My phone would swing around wildly in the lower front pocket, so I left it on the counter and relied on Bluetooth to listen to music which cut out if I ventured too far to the equipment on the other side of the wall.
Worst of all, I just never felt “good” wearing it, so most of the time I just didn’t. It was a self-imposed safety hazard caused by poor design. I honestly never even looked for a new lab coat online because I didn’t know better options were available and didn’t want to “waste” my lab’s money on what seemed like a luxury. If it costs less than a jar of common lab chemicals, is it really “expensive” for something that protects you daily for years and influences your happiness and productivity?
The purpose of The Lab Coat project is to use data-driven design crowdsourced from real researchers to create a lab coat that rivals “designer” coats for physicians but is tailored toward the needs of scientists - and for less than $50.
-Derek (founder of Genius Lab Gear)
You don’t use a stethoscope, you use a pipette. So why would you wear a lab coat designed for a doctor’s office?
Most high-end lab coats are designed for a clinical setting and marketed to professionals with good salaries. But your needs (and budget) are different.
You need physical protection and functionality that's affordable.
Popular designer lab coats and scrubs sell for over $100 but cost less than $10 to make (we know their suppliers). You’re paying for a lot of advertising, modeling photos and a luxury brand.
The Lab Coat Project will publish all pricing and margin so you can see the value you're getting. By replacing the big advertising budget with word-of-mouth, we can keep the costs to less than half the premium clinical lab coats without sacrificing quality.
A quick Google search will come up with all kinds of answers ranging from cleanliness to status symbols. They are easier to bleach and cheaper to make, but they also limit self-expression and contribute to the perception of inaccessibility of certain professions.
Doctors and others in clinical settings overwhelmingly wear white lab coats out of tradition. Some clinical professions have abandoned white coats altogether because studies have shown they can cause anxiety in patients.
But if you’re a chemist, microbiologist, engineer, or anything non-clinical, you can choose any color you want! Unfortunately, only a few colors like blue and black are easy to find (for now). If you could design your own lab coat, what color would you choose? Let us know below!
