Jeans Brand Diesel USA Files for Bankruptcy as Turnaround Lags

The second-wave retail culling has claimed another victim: Diesel jeans.

Diesel USA Inc., the premium denim and accessory brand whose five-pocket pants dominated pop culture in the 1990s and early 2000s, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware March 5. The unit of Italy’s Diesel SpA blamed plummeting sales, a botched turnaround, pricey leases and unwavering landlords—plus several instances of cyber fraud and theft.

A Diesel store on 5th Avenue in New York.

Photographer: Craig Warga/Bloomberg

The Chapter 11 petition—filed with a three-year plan to correct a strategy that had it leasing expensive stores in premium locations—estimates up to $100 million in assets and as much as $50 million in debt.

Unlike some ...