‘A lot at stake’: Why clothing giant Patagonia is suing a drag queen

The outdoor apparel company is suing the US drag queen and environmental activist for trademark infringement, arguing that Pattie Gonia moved away from “discrete use of a persona to engage in activism” and “transformed into a commercial enterprise”.

In doing so, Pattie Gonia is causing irreparable harm to Patagonia, the company said in a lawsuit filed in California in January.

Gonia, speaking publicly on social media last week for the first time since the lawsuit was filed, said the company was trying to take away their name permanently and “erase an activist,” and called on Patagonia to drop the lawsuit.

The lawsuit will hinge on the role of First Amendment rights and parody in a dispute over a brand name and services, said Nancy J. Mertzel, a trademark lawyer who is not affiliated with the case.

“Even though Patagonia is a very public benefit-minded corporation, they need to protect their assets,” she said. “I think there’s a lot at stake, certainly for Pattie — as a spokesperson, and as an environmental activist.”

Pattie Gonia, who was created by Wyn Wiley, said she started out in 2018 when she put on a pair of heels during a backpacking trip, naming the drag persona after the region in South America known for its natural beauty.

Since then, Gonia has built an online community around a mission of connecting queer people, people of colour and lower-income communities with the outdoors, putting on climate-inspired drag shows across the United States. She has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram and nearly 900,000 on TikTok.

Wiley also cofounded the Oath, an organisation that promotes climate solutions and inclusion.

According to Patagonia’s lawsuit, filed in January in the US District Court for the Central District of California, the company met Gonia in 2022, and she agreed to restrict her use of the “Pattie Gonia” name on fonts or designs that mimic Patagonia’s.

In 2025, the drag queen started selling Pattie Gonia-branded apparel online. Patagonia asked her to stop, the lawsuit said, citing the 2022 agreement. Several months later, Gonia filed a trademark application, seeking to register the name for clothing, marketing and events.

In a statement posted after several online statements from Gonia, Patagonia said they had hoped to avoid a lawsuit.

“We want to acknowledge any hurt it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community,” the company wrote. “Importantly, we continue to want to resolve this.”

The company said “we can do that” if Gonia agreed to three things: removing the trademark applications, ceasing use of the mountain lan