Traveling Pants: ‘Fugitive Denim’ Author at Brookline Booksmith

Just in case you didn’t feel guilty enough about shelling out $250+ for those of-the-moment jeans, a new book explains how their negative effect extends far beyond your checking account.

In Fugitive Denim, journalist Rachel Louise Snyder reports from just about everywhere as she examines the global politics behind a pair of jeans.

She picks cotton in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, heads to factories in China and Cambodia, and visits indigo-dye processing plants in India, where workers are unwittingly exposed to toxic compounds. (Fact of the day: The average pair of jeans contains three-quarters of a pound of chemicals.)

She also hangs out in New York with socially aware denim designer Ali Hewson (who, in case we need to remind you, has an equally-socially-aware husband).

Snyder will discuss her book at the Brookline Booksmith tonight at 7 p.m. Show up wearing your oldest pair of (non-premium) Levis.