Her walk was poised, her outfit – crop top, tailored trousers, high heels – so on point that when Josie Knowles strutted down a London Fashion Week catwalk last month she could have passed for a model.
uncertain
she → poise → model
That is, had it not been for the sign the Peta protester held saying “H&M: Wool is Bloody Cruel.
asserted
Wool → hold → sign
Still, as one social media commentator put it when praising her strut: “you cant tell me Peta didn’t know what they were doing when they hired this diva”.
asserted
they → put → diva
The diva in question, Josie Knowles, 26, actually hired herself as part of her role leading fashion campaigns at Peta UK.
asserted
diva → hire → UK
Though she would not reveal how she got into last month’s H&M show (rumours of industry plants and sympathizers abound), she would confirm that dressing to “look the part” was part of her prep.
asserted
dressing → reveal → prep
Knowles admits that she did practise her walk a bit (“I can’t say that I didn’t walk up and down my bedroom a few times”) but the main thing she practised was getting her sign out and unfolding it, because “obviously, for me, the most important part was getting my message seen, even if it would just be for a second”, she says.
asserted
she → admit → second
She was also aware that looking good would boost the chances of her protest going viral.
asserted
protest → look → chances
“Unfortunately, we live in a shallow world, and I think people are often more willing to listen to people that they find attractive,” she says.
asserted
she → live → people
And go viral it did: one post alone had 40m views.
asserted
post → go → views
Many of the comments were complimentary, with some even demanding fashion credits (“a lot of people were like, ‘where are the pants from?’” she says).
asserted
she → demand → where
The model Adwoa Aboah even complimented her walk.
asserted
model → compliment → walk
Even though it’s a shame, says Knowles, that “she’s not talking about the message, the fact that there is someone in the fashion world who isn’t angry or annoyed at what we’re doing, is, I suppose, encouraging.”
asserted
I → ’ → what
One of the reasons Knowles’ catwalk moment engaged so many was because it felt unlikely that someone clearly steeped in fashion’s visual codes would also be prepared to protest against the industry so fiercely.
asserted
someone → engage → industry
Knowles has never worked in fashion.
asserted
Knowles → work → fashion
She studied philosophy at university, went vegan after falling into an internet rabbit hole, appalled by what she saw about the treatment of animals.
asserted
she → study → animals
She interned at Peta for six months before she was hired there.
asserted
she → intern → months
“Social media gave me access to countless creators who inspired me.
asserted
who → give → me
It also introduced me to thrifting, which I love because it lets me be creative with what I wear while giving clothes a second life.
asserted
I → introduce → life
I love expressing myself through fashion, but never at an animal’s expense,” she says.
asserted
she → express → expense
Runway protests have been a staple of Peta campaigning for decades, with memorable moments including a naked runway invasion at Oscar de la Renta’s 1991 show in New York, and an astonishing visual tableaux created at a Victoria’s Secret show in 2002, when Gisele Bündchen posed in her smalls while four Peta protesters behind her each held an all-caps signs saying “Gisele: Fur Scum”.
asserted
protesters → include → Scum
The tactic waned at the tail end of Peta’s I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur campaign in the late 2010s, largely because the fashion industry had accepted Peta’s position and removed fur from new lines.
asserted
industry → wan → lines
Now though, it has burst back on to the catwalk.
asserted
it → burst → catwalk
Since 2023, activists have rushed the catwalks of top fashion shows including Burberry, Gucci, Hermès, Victoria Beckham and Fendi.
asserted
activists → rush → Burberry
Many of them have been young men and women who could pass for models themselves.
uncertain
who → pass → models
Peta activists often blend in so well that prior to some recent catwalk ambushes, they have mingled with show-goers and even sat front row before leaping to action.
asserted
they → blend → action
Modelesque Peta activists also do other visual stunts outside shows and boutiques, such as posing in reptilian body paint to protest against the use of crocodile skins.
asserted
activists → do → skins
Though when I asked Peta activists why many fashion protesters looked runway ready, they all cited confidence and the vegan diet.
asserted
they → ask → confidence
The first was more ugly: at New York fashion week, Steven Kolb, who has since resigned from his role as head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), wrestled a protester to the ground with his hand clamped over her mouth at a runway show for H&M Group-owned brand Cos.
asserted
hand → resign → Cos
The Cos debacle took place at the first officially fur-free New York fashion week – an initiative announced by Kolb himself.
asserted
debacle → take → Kolb
But Peta still protested because the organization is shifting emphasis.
asserted
organization → protest → emphasis
It’s now calling for the eradication of nearly all animal-derived fabrics including, perhaps most divisively, wool.
asserted
It → call → wool
H&M became a target for Peta’s anti-wool efforts last year, when Peta captured footage of extreme cruelty to sheep at a wool operator that supplies H&M through a broker.
asserted
that → become → broker
That farm was Nativa- and Responsible Wool Standard-certified, accreditations designed to reassure customers that the fibre has been sourced ethically and traceably; Peta has described such certifications as “humanewashing”.
asserted
Peta → certify → humanewashing
Though many in the wool and fashion industry claim such cases are bad apples, Peta claims to have evidence of extreme cruelty from 150 wool operations globally and argue that such mistreatment is systemic.
uncertain
mistreatment → claim → operations
Peta’s assertions are challenging to many of us, at odds with the cosy associations we have with wool farming – associations Peta’s activists say are based on misinformation.
asserted
activists → have → misinformation
For a fashion world patting itself on the back for dropping fur, calls to ban wool have been met with “a breath of exasperation from some fashion insiders, and confusion from others” according to a Vogue Business piece which ran in response to the protests.
uncertain
which → pat → protests
Peta is not the only organization to express concern about sheep welfare.
asserted
Peta → express → welfare
Studies had found sheep to exhibit an acute stress response during shearing.
asserted
sheep → find → shearing
The Australia branch of RSPCA, the world’s largest animal welfare charity, has also spoken out about shearing injuries.
asserted
branch → speak → injuries
One big concern, says Melanie Lary, research and campaigns manager at global animal welfare organization Four Paws, is that 80% of the merino wool used for clothing globally comes from Australia, the only country in the world where mulesing – the practice of cutting skin from a lamb’s hindquarters to prevent the condition flystrike – is still legal.
asserted
mulesing → say → flystrike
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
