THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS PROGRAM

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE REGISTER AT THE DOOR.

Fugitive Denim

with

Rachel Louise Snyder, author

Download audio from this event now.

Rachel Louise Snyder has written for the New York Times Magazine, Slate, Glamour, Jane, Salon and the New Republic and is a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s Marketplace, This American Life, and All Things Considered. Her latest book, Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade, is a compelling narrative that focuses on a familiar niche of the clothing universe: that icon of Americana, the denim cloth of blue jeans. 

The multi-billion dollar textile industry is perhaps the world’s best barometer of globalization’s effects – both nefarious and beneficial. After all, everyone has to get dressed in the morning, and that means they need clothes – clothes that are usually made in far-off countries, under the auspices of a rapidly changing cluster of trade agreements and quota treaties.  Fugitive Denim travels up and down the rag trade’s food chain, from dingy offices in Azerbaijan to hip Manhattan lofts; and from the dimming industrial heartland of Italy to an unexpectedly modern garment factory in China. A chapter of the book, which aired on This American Life, recently won the Overseas Press Award.  Snyder’s book will be available for purchase and signing following the program.

The evening will be moderated by Melissa Gamble, Director of Fashion Arts and Events, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago.

The James Hotel
55 East Ontario
Chicago, IL 60611

Reception and cash bar: 5:30 p.m.
Talk followed by audience Q&A: 6:30 p.m.
Book signing and cash bar: 7:30 p.m. 

Young Professional Members $10
Members $20
Nonmembers $30
President’s Circle, Corporate Members, and Student Members complimentary