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On September 13, 2026, Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA, physically intervened when PETA activists disrupted COS’s Spring 2027 show at New York Fashion Week. Within hours, footage of the confrontation had travelled far beyond the runway.
On September 13, 2026, Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA, physically intervened when PETA activists disrupted COS’s Spring 2027 show at New York Fashion Week. Within hours, footage of the confrontation had travelled far beyond the runway.
September 13, 2026
At least five PETA supporters interrupted the COS show at WSA in Lower Manhattan, carrying signs protesting the fashion industry’s use of wool. Most were removed by security, but Steven Kolb personally confronted several activists, taking away signs and physically restraining two of them. Footage on social medias showed him covering protesters’ mouths and holding one activist on the floor.
PETA later alleged that two supporters had been assaulted and said it planned to file a police report. The protest targeted H&M Group over wool sourcing, while COS has publicly cited certified and traceable wool standards within its material strategy.
The confrontation comes during the first NYFW season operating under the CFDA’s new ban on real animal fur across its official schedule. Wool remains permitted, but the timing places animal welfare unusually close to the organisation’s own evolving sustainability rules.
Steven Kolb later acknowledged that his response had crossed a line, saying he “reacted inappropriately” and should have left the situation to security.
Runway protests are hardly new. What made this one extraordinary was watching the head of American fashion’s governing body become part of the disruption himself, leaving Steven Kolb at the centre of NYFW’s most unexpected controversy.
