Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, got in the middle of a PETA protest at the Cos show Sunday afternoon.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protesters stormed the show at WSA at 175 Water Street. Multiple activists made their way down the runway, either holding a sign that said, “Sheep Beaten and Bloodied for Wool. Don’t Buy It,” or yelling about Cos’ use of sheep’s wool for its clothing.
Kolb tried to restrain one of the protesters, pulling her to the floor, covering her mouth, and trying to keep her down while she screamed, “Get sheep off the runway.” She pulled herself away and walked out protesting. Kolb also pushed another protester who was screaming about getting wool off the runway, covering the protester’s mouth and pulling a banner out of his hands, until he was escorted out.
Reached for comment after the show, Kolb said through a statement, “I reacted inappropriately to an incident at a show earlier today. It wasn’t my place to do so. I should have let the security team handle the situation.”
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The show kept going on as the five or six protesters walked down the runway intermittently among the models, shouting about not killing sheep. Some of the activists looked out of place, but one protester was dressed in a suit and looked like a Cos model before he started shouting about sheep. Security swiftly escorted each of the protesters from the venue. As soon as the finale was over, the celebrities were quickly escorted out of the tight venue. One show-goer commented, “Who’s paying attention to the clothes?”
Spokespeople for Cos and PETA didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Last month, PETA called on H&M, parent company of Cos, to ban wool after a PETA Asia investigation exposed workers kicking, beating, and dragging terrified sheep and leaving them bleeding at a South African wool farm. PETA said the farm sells wool through the same certified South African wool pipeline that supplies H&M Group.
The show was attended by such celebrities as Sharon Stone, Michelle Williams, Lupita Nyong’o, Diego Calva, Dominic Sessa, John Boyega and more.
In the calm before the show and subsequent protest erupted, Calva was snapping pics from a disposable camera he had with him.
“Mostly I bring a Polaroid. I really like the mini,” he said.
The actor has become a regular at the European fashion weeks, but was enjoying his experience at NYFW.
“I think New York is really dirty, so they have better fashion because fashion should be a little dirty,” he said.
During PFW earlier this year Calva sat next to Kate Moss at Saint Laurent’s show, where she made his week by telling him she’s a fan of his show, “The Night Manager.”
“And here there’s Sharon Stone,” Calva said at Cos. “And she said she watched my show.”
“The thing that I love about it is it’s modern takes on classic silhouettes, so you feel like you’re always sort of up to date and current, but you also feel comfortable like yourself and you have things that last,” Williams said of Cos.
Ahead, Williams would be attending some shows in Milan and was trying to sort out the rest of her fall.
“Can I ask your opinion? Should I work or stay home?” she asked.
