Malden Mills to continue orders for military gear

BOSTON – Malden Mills says it will keep outfitting U.S. soldiers with high-tech fleeces, some of which are being used in Afghanistan, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“We’re business as usual,” Malden Mills spokeswoman Carol Valianti said Friday. “We continue to make the fabric, deliver the fabric, they continue to order it.”

The company appeared in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Worcester on Friday to make its “First Day” filings, the day after announcing it would seek bankruptcy protection from creditors.

Spokesman David Costello said the court approved all arrangements for $20 million in debtor-in-possession financing, as well as a petition that will allow the company to pay its workers.

“[Chief Executive] Aaron Feuerstein wanted to make sure that nobody experienced any loss of wages going through this process,” Costello said.

Lawrence-based Malden Mills, founded in 1906, prospered with military contracts during the 1920s and ’30s, and got back into the business in October 2000, when it landed a three-year, $17 million deal to supply the Marine Corps and Army with its Polartec synthetic fleece products.

This fall, the military expanded the contract while planning for Afghanistan operations. Malden Mills also has been collaborating with the Army’s Natick Labs to develop a new generation of high-tech winter clothing for military and consumer use.

“Because they’re smaller and they actually have the ability to do more with fabrics and apparel, most new products are started with special forces,” said Valianti, adding Marines currently are using Polartec in Afghanistan.

“As we have success with special forces they can go down the line.”

The company gained national attention six years ago when Feuerstein kept employees on the payroll while it recovered from a devastating fire.

But even the expanded military contract wasn’t enough to dig Malden Mills out of debt. The company fell under pressures from lenders, led by GE Capital, and earlier this week saw its debt downgraded.

It filed for protection Thursday, saying it had lined up $20 million in funds known as “debtor-in-possession” financing and would continue operating.

“It was another order. It was a great order,” Valianti said of the military contract. “It’s always great to get them, but it wasn’t something of a really huge magnitude that would have had an impact.”

The company also sells to L.L. Bean and other consumer companies. For the military, it makes fleece clothing and fire-resistant outfits used by pilots, sailors and others.