Fashion Wire Daily - Paris - Yohji Yamamoto, one of the world's most influential designers in the past two decades, has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in Tokyo, though an investor has already been found to finance his house's needed restructuring.

Yamamoto Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in the Tokyo District Court on Friday, Oct. 9, after the downturn in the global economy and over-expansion badly hurt sales of the fashion-forward clothing business.

The fashion house, founded in 1972, has run up debts of some 6 billion yen, $67 million, as the recession saw its bottom line plunge into the red.

Under Japanese Law, Yamamoto will be able to keep his business afloat while restructuring takes place. A local investment firm, Integral Corporation, announced in a release that it had signed a deal to be the designer's "financial sponsor" and promised a cash injection in the brand.

Yamamoto's deal with Integral Corporation covers his whole extended company, including the fashion house of his daughter Limi Feu, who uses her married name on her design label, and who first began showing her own collection in Paris in 2006.

Integral plans to create a separate company to "acquire businesses, related subsidiaries and assets from Yohji Yamamoto Inc.," the investment firm said in a release.

"With the support of its new financial sponsor, the new Yohji Yamamoto Inc. and Limi Yamamoto Inc. will continue to design high-end apparel as they have done in the past for the runways in Paris, New York, Beijing and Tokyo and further strengthen their retail and wholesale distribution," said the release from Integral.