Brazos Sportswear Files For Bankruptcy Protection

WILMINGTON, Del. - Brazos Sportswear, a designer of moderately priced casual apparel which fired a quarter of its work force last month, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

The Batavia, Ohio-based company had bought Kent-based Sun Sportswear in 1997.

Brazos, which had 1,800 employees, listed $97.1 million in assets and $104.5 million in debts in papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington.

Brazos last month said it was trying to reduce losses after having problems renegotiating clothing licensing agreements. Brazos affiliates Morning Sun of Tacoma, Brazos Sportswear LLC and Brazos Embroidery were also named in bankruptcy petitions.

Officials of Brazos could not be reached for comment. The company reported $284.4 million in sales in 1997. In November, it reported a third-quarter loss of $8.3 million or $1.93 a share.