The Lycra Company invented spandex — then leveraged buyouts buried it under $1.2B of debt

Lycra was invented in 1958 by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers and became the world's most recognized spandex brand. DuPont's textile division was spun off as Invista in 2003 and acquired by Koch Industries in 2004. For sixty years, Lycra had no real competition — it was the gold standard for stretch fabrics in everything from sportswear to medical garments.

In 2019, Chinese textile conglomerate Shandong Ruyi acquired Invista's Apparel & Advanced Textiles business — including Lycra and Coolmax — for over $2 billion, creating The Lycra Company. The acquisition was financed with debt. By 2022, Shandong Ruyi defaulted on its loan payments, and control of The Lycra Company passed to its creditors. The company carried approximately $1.2 billion in debt on roughly $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

On March 17, 2026, The Lycra Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas with a prepackaged restructuring plan to eliminate $1.2 billion in debt and hand ownership to its bondholders. The company continued operations during restructuring. Lycra — the fiber that enabled athleisure, high-performance sportswear, and the modern stretch garment industry — had been loaded with so much acquisition debt that its survival required a bankruptcy court.