The CEO and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America said he will voluntarily take a leave of absence after he was captured on video assaulting an animal rights protesters. Steven Kolb grabbed the person from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], who was protesting fashion designers’ use of wool at its runway show. 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,’ the animal rights group alleged in a statement. ‘Kolb also shoved and grabbed a second PETA member who was filming the catwalk takeover and covered his face with his hand,’ PETA said.
DANIELLA SILVA: The CEO and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America said he will voluntarily take a leave of absence after he was captured on video grabbing an animal rights protester and covering her mouth during a New York Fashion Week runway show Sunday.
In the video, which NBC News viewed, Steven Kolb grabbed the person from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], who was protesting fashion designer COS’ use of wool at its runway show. He then pulled the protester to the side of the runway, covering her mouth and using his leg to restrain her…
PETA said in a statement that Kolb “assaulted” two of its protesters.
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,’” the animal rights group alleged in a statement.
“Kolb also shoved and grabbed a second PETA member who was filming the catwalk takeover and covered his face with his hand,” PETA said. That was not shown in the video with Kolb.
Moira Colley, the senior director of media relations at PETA, said in an emailed statement that Kolb “reacted aggressively to peaceful protesters, thereby endorsing PETA’s complaint that the fashion industry is unthinkingly violent”…
“Perhaps due to internal criticism, he has apologized for his behavior and now PETA will explore a meeting with him and ask him to watch footage from our 17 exposés of the wool industry showing sheep being punched, kicked, and cut to ribbons for wool in the hope that he’ll realize something must be done,” she wrote.
Kolb said in his statement that he has accepted PETA’s invitation to meet and discuss its concerns. He added that he intends to use the meeting to apologize to the two protesters in person…
The company said that after an investigation into PETA’s allegations, licenses for one wool farm and one mohair farm “have been suspended, and these farms are no longer permitted to sell certified materials”…
Kolb said in a statement during its announcement banning animal fur last year that CFDA hoped “to inspire American designers to think more deeply about the fashion industry’s impact on animals.”
“Consumers are moving away from products associated with animal cruelty, and we want to position American fashion as a leader on those fronts, while also driving material innovation,” he said. SOURCE
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