Downturn Pushes Escada into Bankruptcy Escada, the German luxury fashion brand, filed for bankruptcy protection with a Munich court, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Escada was badly hit by the global economic downturn and had been negotiating with bondholders to restructure its debts, but the negotiations were broken off on Tuesday. Along with the recent bankruptcy of Lacroix, the French luxury clothing brand, the Escada case reveals the heavy toll the recession is taking on the high-end fashion industry. According to French newspaper Le Monde, Italian luxury fashion brands are also suffering from serious financial woes. Gianfranco Ferre, one of the...