Key Takeaways
- Steven Kolb, chief executive of the CFDA, physically restrained PETA protesters who disrupted the COS Spring/Summer 2027 show at New York Fashion Week on Sunday.
- Five PETA activists walked the runway and held signs reading "Sheep Beaten and Bloodied for Wool. Don't Buy It" to accuse COS and H&M Group of sheep abuse in wool production.
- PETA says it is filing a police report and pursuing criminal charges against Kolb after one protester said she felt suffocated and sought urgent care.
- Kolb apologized that night, saying he "reacted inappropriately" and should have let security handle the situation, and he did not attend later shows or face arrest.
Steven Kolb, the chief executive of the CFDA, spent Sunday afternoon on the floor of a New York Fashion Week venue with his hand over a protester's mouth, and by the evening he was apologizing for it.
Five PETA activists disrupted the COS Spring/Summer 2027 show at WSA on Water Street, seating themselves among the editors and buyers before stepping onto the runway at intervals between the models. One arrived dressed to pass as a COS model before starting to shout about sheep.
Their signs read "Sheep Beaten and Bloodied for Wool. Don't Buy It." The group accused COS and parent company H&M Group of abusing sheep for wool, chanting "Protect sheep!" and "Get sheep off the runway" as the collection walked.
Kolb intervened. He snatched signs, pulled one activist to the floor, covered her mouth and nose while she yelled "Sheep bloodied and beaten for wool," and restrained her by the wrists with his leg wrapped around her, according to the New York Post. He also shoved and grabbed a second protester who was filming, covering that person's face and yanking a banner away before security escorted the protester out.
The woman got back up, walked the runway one more time yelling about sheep, and left. A separate physical altercation broke out between a protester and an audience member. The show ran to schedule.
The front row watched it unfold. Attendees included Sharon Stone, Lupita Nyong'o, Diego Calva, Dominic Sessa and John Boyega, with Michelle Williams holding her hands to her chest during the confrontation.
Kolb issued a statement that night. "I reacted inappropriately to an incident at a show earlier today," he said. "It wasn't my place to do so. I should have let the security team handle the situation."
He was not seen at later shows on Sunday, and he was not arrested.
Activists went to a local police precinct to report the incident. PETA said it is filing a police report and pursuing criminal charges against Kolb, and told the Post that one protester felt like she was being suffocated and had gone to urgent care.
"Today's actions show how top people in fashion use violence to silence people who expose how sheep are beaten, bloodied and violently killed for scarves and sweaters," PETA said, adding that it is urging shoppers to go elsewhere until H&M and COS drop wool.
The stunt follows PETA's call last month for H&M Group to ban wool, after a PETA Asia investigation allegedly captured workers kicking, beating and dragging sheep at a South African farm feeding the retailer's certified wool supply. PETA says the pressure campaign continues across the group's brands.
This is also the first NYFW to run under the CFDA's official ban on real animal fur, which took effect with the September 2026 season.
