Retailer Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy for the second time, citing challenges from rising inflation and intense competition in the fast-fashion industry. The brand, popular among young women for its affordable and stylish apparel since the 1980s, faced issues like increasing inventory and wage costs, alongside competition from online retailers such as Temu and Shein. Despite efforts to cut costs, F21 Opco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware with about $1.58 billion in funded debt. The company plans to initiate liquidation sales while simultaneously exploring a court-supervised sales process for some of its assets to potentially continue operations. This is the second bankruptcy filing for Forever 21, following the 2019 bankruptcy which resulted in the closure of many of its locations. A group of buyers, including Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., and Authentic Brands, had bought Forever 21 out of the previous bankruptcy through Sparc Group. JC Penney later acquired Sparc to form Catalyst Brands, keeping the previous shareholders as minority stakeholders. Forever 21 highlighted foreign competition's use of the 'de minimis' exemption as a significant challenge in its recent filing, as it allows overseas retailers to ship low-value packages to the US without import duties. The brand's international locations, operated by other licensees, are not part of the Chapter 11 filings.