The fashion chain, which operates more than 500 stores, made the Chapter 11 filing to buy itself some breathing space from creditors.

Chapter 11 protection acts in a similar way to a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in the UK, postponing a US company’s financial obligations to creditors to give it time to refinance or sell parts of the business.

J Crew plans to hand control to its lenders, including the hedge fund Anchorage Capital Group, Blackstone-owned GSO Capital Partners, and Davidson Kempner Capital Management, in exchange for the cancellation of $1.65bn (£1.3bn) of debts.