WILMINGTON, Del. (BRAIN) — The Lycra Company, one of the leading producers of spandex used in cycling apparel, filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Estimated assets and liabilities were listed at between $100,000-$500,000 million and creditors were listed between 200-999. The list of secured creditors is topped by Kroll Agency Services Limited, which is owed $19.4 million.
Lycra's product lines, which can be found in everything from activewear to denim and medical compression garments, include Lycra fiber, Lycra HyFit fiber, Lycra T400, Coolmax, THERMOLITE, Supplex, and Tactel.
The company has about 2,000 employees, eight manufacturing facilities, and 11 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. Lycra has additional fiber processing operations in various locations around the world.
While not an apparel manufacturer, the Lycra Company produces fibers it sells to mills that incorporate them into garments.
Invented by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers in 1958, it evolved into a spandex brand a couple years later. In 2004, Invista, a Koch Industries subsidiary, acquired the brand, which became the Lycra Company in 2019.
