PETA Protester Turns H&M Runway Into Her Own Catwalk Debut

PETA activist was noticed Thursday night at the H&M Fashion Show London. She wore high heels and held a poster accusing H&M of cruelty for using wool.

Some activists appeared on the H&M&YOU&I: A Fashion Story show taking place at Olympia. They protested against the use of wool and other animal products, while security personnel escorted them peacefully out of the event after their appearance.

According to the Free Press Journal, three different activists appeared on the stage of Kensington Olympia on September 17, while PETA UK informed that their slogans read, “H&M: Wool is BLOODY Cruel. Drop It!”

One of the protesters, known as @josieknowles on Instagram, received a lot of attention for her cool walk, high heels, and cinched waist. Commentators even joked that she looked like a professional model.

In her Instagram post, she wrote: “Wool is Bloody Cruel. PETA entities have revealed brutal cruelty in over 150 wool industry operations across 4 continents. Watch the footage for yourself.”

View this post on Instagram

According to WWD, security waited for the protesters to finish their actions on the stage, then calmly let them off the runway in front of H&M’s senior management, who watched the fashion show from the front row. W Magazine said that, unlike the COS show in New York last week, the London events were more peaceful. No one shouted, and guards did not touch protesters.

However, the situation was very different in New York. According to PETA, CFDA CEO Steven Kolb grabbed a protester on the COS runway, pinned her to the floor, and muffled her by putting his hand over her mouth and nose. Later, according to Complex, Kolb apologized for his actions and said, “I reacted inappropriately to an incident at a show earlier today.”

PETA frames the protest as part of its campaign against H&M’s use of wool, urging the company to use animal-free materials instead. PETA says its latest campaign followed an investigation by PETA Asia into a South African wool factory certified by NATIVA that supplies H&M Group through a broker. There are videos of workers who kick and stomp on sheep, drag them by the legs, and leave them with open wounds after shearing. PETA says it has released 17 exposés covering more than 150 wool industry facilities in seven countries across four continents.

Protest didn’t stop at the runway. Three activists were made up to look bloodied and staged a scene outside the venue. As guests arrived, they saw them holding a dead sheep prop. The next day, one of the PETA supporters put a realistic sheep’s head prop outside of H&M’s Regent Street store.

Inkl notes that H&M has said it uses only certified farms for animal fibers and, whenever possible, tries to recycle the material.

However, the fashion show went on. According to Who What Wear, British stylist Nick Knight creatively directed the event, which revealed three drops from H&M’s Autumn 2026 collection, along with pieces from H&M Studio and H&M Atelier. The program included a ballet performance by Ingrid Silva, a live set by Labrinth, and a small performance by model Alex Consani and actor Archie Renaux.

According to T2ONLINE, London Fashion Week banned real fur in 2023 and wild animal skins in 2022. However, it did not ban wool, leather, or feathers.

Social media users shared videos of the runway walk on Friday. Meanwhile, PETA invites viewers to watch footage of its wool investigation on the PETA UK website.