When Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy in September, the fast fashion chain described its history in documents that【C1】________, at times, like a pitch for a memoir or a Netflix special.

The filing emphasized the【C2】_____success of the Changs, who immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1981 and built a multibillion-dollar business【C3】_____.

【C4】_____its peak, the retailer【C5】__more than $4 billion in annual sales and employed more than 43,000 people worldwide in hundreds of stores. Now it is leaving 40 countries and【C6】__to 199, or more than 30％ of its stores in the United States, and former employees and industry experts are pointing to the Changs’【C7】_____ management style as a significant reason for the collapse. They cite disastrous real estate deals and the chain’ s【C8】________merchandising strategy in recent years.

“On the founder【C9】_____, this【C10】__thing is pretty common,【C11】_____it’s particularly deadly if you’ve been successful for a long time,” said Erik Gordon, a management expert at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. “They didn’t have a board of directors to give them a reality check, and they didn’t have equity analysts to give them a reality check.”

He added: “You can live in your self-created bubble for a lot longer, but then the bubble【C12】________.”

The bankruptcy filing provides a【C13】_____glimpse inside a retailer that has been intensely secretive and privately【C14】__for decades. Six former employees, including three executives, also spoke to The New York Times about their experiences at Forever 21【C15】__anonymity,【C16】_____nondisclosure agreements.

Forever 21’s missteps, combined with industrywide changes in consumer tastes and shopping habits, will have far-reaching effects on thousands of people who work for the company, its vendors and malls.

From its early days, Do Won Chang, who is still the company’s chief executive,【C17】_____landlord and vendor relationships【C18】_____Jin Sook Chang led design and merchandising.

Former employees say that the top floor of the company’s Los Angeles headquarters was viewed as Do Won Chang’s world,【C19】_____corporate strategy【C20】_____and people kept quiet outside his office, while the bottom floor was Jin Sook Chang’s domain of buyers and planners.

【C16】