Steven Kolb Resigns as CFDA President & CEO After Viral NYFW PETA Protest

The resignation follows an incident during the COS runway show at New York Fashion Week involving PETA protesters. CNN reported that the CFDA board had placed Kolb on leave while it reviewed the incident; Kolb’s resignation statement did not cite the confrontation as the reason for his departure.

PETA Renews Its Call for COS and H&M Group to Drop Wool PETA said its September 13 action at COS’ NYFW show was intended to draw attention to alleged cruelty in the wool supply chain. In a statement released after the protest, the group renewed its call for COS and parent company H&M Group to remove wool from their collections.

The resignation puts a major leadership transition at one of American fashion’s central institutions alongside an ongoing materials-sourcing debate. For the CFDA, the immediate task is maintaining continuity across designer programs, partnerships and New York Fashion Week while the board manages the transition.

Steven Kolb’s Full Statement Kolb published the following statement on Substack, titled My Resignation from CFDA, on September 18, 2026: After twenty years leading the CFDA, I have made the difficult decision to step down as CEO and President. I am…