From mountain range to apparel brand to drag queen: The name Patagonia has a long history that stretches back to the 1500s. And now it’s at the center of a lawsuit.
Patagonia — the apparel brand founded by climber Yvon Chouinard after visiting the South American mountain range — has filed a lawsuit accusing a popular drag queen and social media personality of trademark infringement. Pattie Gonia, whose given name is Wyn Wiley, has long used the moniker for performances and fundraisers on behalf of environmental groups.
More recently, however, Wiley began using the name to sell merchandise online.
That breaks a 2022 agreement between Patagonia and Wiley, who had promised to limit use of the name as a brand, according to the lawsuit. After Wiley continued to sell products using the name — and even filed a trademark application for it — Patagonia chose to file suit, according to court documents.
However, the brand doesn’t demand a large sum of money from the drag queen and activist. For Wiley’s trademark violations, Patagonia requests just $1 and “an award of attorneys’ fees.” It’s more important that the court grant Patagonia’s request to bar Wiley from continuing to sell merchandise, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
“Patagonia must protect its iconic trademarks, even when it supports or agrees with Pattie Gonia’s views, message, or objectives,” the lawsuit said.
Debating the Trademark
GearJunkie reached out to both Wiley and Patagonia for this story, but didn’t immediately hear back on Thursday.
However, according to Patagonia’s lawsuit, the brand’s original agreement with Wiley began in February 2022. At that time, Wiley had entered into a collaboration with Hydroflask. That led to a discussion with Patagonia in which Wiley agreed to refrain from selling Pattie Gonia–branded products that were “substantially similar” to Patagonia logos.
By early 2025, however, Wiley was selling merchandise on the website PattieGoniaMerch.com. Patagonia reached out again to request that Wiley stop selling products with the name Pattie Gonia or a similar logo to Patagonia the brand.
But Wiley persisted, according to emails included in court documents. Wiley said the Pattie Gonia name and persona are inspired “by a region in South America.”
In addition, all references or uses of Patagonia’s font and logo were made by fans and only promoted on social media — not sold as products, according to Wiley. The activist also planned to avoid “any perceived association” with Patagonia after learning of its subsidiary Lost Arrow, which made millions of dollars selling tactical gear to the U.S. military. (Lost Arrow rebranded to ForgeLine Solutions in 2022.)
“It is a disconcerting fact for a company that claims to be ‘in business to save our home planet,'” Wiley wrote in a February 2025 email. “There’s plenty of room for us to both play in this play box.”
A Popular Drag Queen
Wiley and the Pattie Gonia persona have become increasingly popular in the last few years.
In addition to touring as a drag queen and performer, Wiley developed partnerships with many of the biggest brands in the outdoor industry. As an activist, Wiley made a film alongside REI and entered a “Summer of Pride” partnership with The North Face. (Wiley later boycotted REI, as seen above.)
Time Magazine, Outside Magazine, National Geographic, and other major publications recognized the activism of Wiley, who also delivered a TED Talk in 2024. President Trump even used a likeness of Wiley in an attack ad on Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
Wiley also co-founded a nonprofit focused on outdoor education for queer and BIPOC people, and founded the Queer Outdoor and Environmental Job Board.
In its lawsuit, Patagonia repeatedly said that it supported Wiley’s efforts as an activist. The suit refers to other successful trademark lawsuits from Patagonia against brand names including Fratagonia, Catagonia, and Petagonia.
“While Patagonia seeks only nominal monetary damages, the harm Pattie Gonia has caused and will cause to the Patagonia brand is irreparable and cannot be remedied by money damages or other remedies short of an injunction,” the brand said.
As of Thursday, everything on the Pattie Gonia merch website was listed as “sold out.”
