Breaking: CFDA President Violently Pins Down PETA Members Protesting Cruelty to Sheep on COS NYFW Runway

For Immediate Release:
September 13, 2026

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

Moments ago, two PETA supporters were assaulted by the CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Steven Kolb, during a protest over wool on the COS runway. Kolb violently grabbed one protester, held her to the floor, wrapped a leg around her, and covered her mouth and nose with his hands as she shouted, “Sheep bloodied and beaten for wool.” Kolb also shoved and grabbed a second PETA member who was filming the catwalk takeover and covered his face with his hand. The duo was joined by a third member protesting the company’s implication in a recent PETA Asia investigation. They are filing a police report and plan to pursue criminal charges.

The protest follows new footage from a farm certified by NATIVA, a wool certification used in the supply chain of COS’s parent company, H&M Group. The investigation reveals workers kicking and stomping on terrified sheep and leaving them with gaping wounds after crude shearing. Photos and video of the runway takeover are available here.

“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,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on H&M and COS to ban wool from its collections and is urging everyone to shop elsewhere until they do.”

Sheep are thinking, feeling beings with unique personalities who grow depressed if isolated from their flock. But PETA Asia’s investigation documented workers kicking sheep in the head and body, hitting them in the face with shearing equipment, beating them with a piece of wood, and picking up and dragging lambs by their front legs. One worker dropped his knee onto a ram’s neck, causing the animal’s head to hit the floor. Others sheared the sheep quickly and carelessly, slicing their skin and leaving them bloody.

PETA entities have now released 17 exposés of over 150 wool industry operations in seven countries on four continents, revealing extreme cruelty and violence even at operations that market themselves as “ethical” or “responsible”—and showing why such labels serve only to mislead customers.

Throughout September, PETA’s sky-high message at 7th Avenue and 43rd Street in Times Square—just feet away from H&M’s Times Square location—will remind shoppers that sheep pay the ultimate price for wool garments.

PETA encourages everyone to urge H&M to stop selling wool and to commit to making clothing exclusively from animal-free fabrics such as Tencel, cotton, or bamboo.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a sheep is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.