Fashion Week honcho manhandles protesters during runway ruckus

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NEW YORK — On Sunday, several animal rights protesters disrupted a fashion show for the Swedish clothing brand Cos during New York Fashion Week, taking to the runway, shouting slogans and carrying signs. That's not unusual.

Steven Kolb, the CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), was recorded attempting to physically restrain some of the protesters. That is very unusual.

In a video uploaded by Fashionista, Kolb was seen engaging in physical altercations with two different protesters. In both instances, he was recorded placing his hand over their mouths as they shouted, "Get wool off the runway now!"

The footage has a strangely cinematic edge thanks to the propulsive electronic music playing in the background for the models walking the runway. Celebrities including Sharon Stone, Lupita Nyong'o and Michelle Williams were seated front row.

According to a spokesperson from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), there were six protesters involved in the action. The two protesters Kolb attempted to restrain were identified as Mason Melito and Andrija Barak. A spokesperson for PETA wrote via email that they had filed a police report and would be talking to their lawyers.

"The violence towards the activists today shows no concern for human beings, so imagine how little regard they have for sheep," PETA said in an email to The Washington Post.

Kolb, the CFDA and Cos have not responded to The Post's requests for comment. WWD published the following statement from Kolb: "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."

H&M Group is the parent company of Cos. Since May, PETA has been pressuring H&M to cease use of wool following an investigation by PETA Asia that captured footage from a wool production facility in South Africa, which PETA says shows cruelty to sheep. The facility in question was not specifically identified as supplying to H&M but was allegedly certified as sustainable by Nativa, a company that brokers to H&M.

H&M and Nativa have not responded to requests for comment.

Animal rights activists have been targeting the fashion world for its use of fur, leather and other animal products since the 1980s. Historically, the industry has largely responded with a shrug. In 1996, Anna Wintour was famously unruffled after a PETA protester dropped a dead raccoon on her plate during a lunch at the Four Seasons in New York City. "Merry Christmas," she reportedly quipped to her tablemates.

Apparently, Kolb doesn't share Wintour's sangfroid. Like Wintour, Kolb has long been a power broker and fixture in New York fashion. He has worked for the CFDA since 2006, was appointed CEO in 2011 and has been the de facto head honcho of Fashion Week since the CFDA purchased the official calendar in 2014.

Eugene Rabkin, the founder of the fashion website StyleZeitgeist and author of "Torn: Fashion and Post-Modernism," was shocked when he saw the footage.

"He represents the entire New York fashion industry and he is in a position of power, and people in positions of power are role models," Rabkin said in a phone interview.

"I don't think he is fit to lead CFDA or any kind of organization if that's the violent behavior he displays," Rabkin added.

At the Magda Butrym runway show, which happened shortly after the incident at Cos, several people seated in the front row were overheard discussing the PETA protesters, passing phones back and forth to watch the footage. The gossip continued at the runway show for Campillo that followed.

10 Magazine uploaded its own video of the Cos runway finale to Instagram with a caption boasting that no protesters "can damper the vibe" of Cos today. "Cashmere and wool has us excited for fall!!"

Shane O'Neill connects the dots between entertainment news, internet fads, celebrity gossip and pop culture ephemera to sketch a portrait of how we live today.