Fashion Council Head's Altercation at New York Fashion Week
Steven Kolb, CEO and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), apologized after video showed him physically restraining two PETA activists who interrupted Swedish brand COS's Fall-Winter 2026 New York Fashion Week show on September 13. Footage showed Kolb grabbing the protesters, snatching their signs, covering their mouths, and wrapping his leg around one activist to pin him to the floor while models continued walking the runway. He wrote on Instagram Stories: '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.' PETA said its activists were 'assaulted' and that it was considering filing a police report and pursuing criminal charges; one protester, 22-year-old senior campaigner Mason Melito, said he had not known who Kolb was until after being ejected, and that 'the violence the CEO of the CFDA showed toward us, in his attempt to silence us, just completely mirrors the violence inherent in the wool industry.'
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14 September 2026
- Physical Altercation Breaks Out at N.Y.F.W. Runway Show Over PETA Protest New York Times
- Altercation Breaks Out at New York Fashion Week Show Over PETA Protest New York Times
- Fashion boss got into a physical altercation with protestors at show during NYFW CNN