Eddie Bauer regularly touts the durability of its outdoor apparel, and the company itself has proven resilient as well, surviving two trips to bankruptcy court. Then-parent Spiegel Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection in 2003 after eroding sales and credit card defaults led to debts of $1.7 billion. The company eventually sold its signature Spiegel direct marketing catalog and other assets, except for Eddie Bauer. In May 2005, Spiegel emerged from bankruptcy under the name Eddie Bauer Holdings, a reorganization that renowned U.S. bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland called " almost a perfect poster child of what Chapter 11 is designed to be ."