‘Made in’ labels do little to convey the constellation of treaties, countries and people at work in the assembly of a pair of jeans. Rachel Snyder reports from the far reaches of this huge industry in search of the people who make the clothes we wear. Fugitive Denim follows individuals in five countries who confront a new uncertainty after the upheaval of a fifty-year-old system of trade in the clothing industry. Among them are Mehman, the cotton classer in Baku who dreams of cheesecake, and Vasif, the Azeri cotton executive who yearns for the return of the Soviet Union. There are Scott and Rogan, two of New York’s hottest designers balancing high fashion with concerns about equity and the environment, under the watchful eye of Bono and Ali. In a disarmingly humorous voice, Snyder conjures a pair of jeans, challenging the reader to see the interplay not just of fabric and thread but also of people and place.