Popular clothing company Patagonia has been called hypocritical for taking a drag queen and environmental activist to court, claiming she may undermine its activism.

The outdoor apparel company argues in the complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Wednesday, that drag performer Pattie Gonia’s name competes ‘directly’ with the products and advocacy work that are core to Patagonia.

The drag queen has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, which feature posts of her in boots with six-inch tall heels or backpacking 100 miles in drag down the California coast to raise money for outdoor nonprofits. 

The suit claims that the performer, whose real name is Wyn Wiley, creates ‘confusion’ by using the stage name on clothing and for advertising services that overlap with the brand’s, including ‘motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability’ and ‘organizing, arranging, and conducting trail and hiking events.’

It was filed in response to Wiley’s business filing an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to claim the exclusive right to the Pattie Gonia brand. 

Lawyers for Patagonia now argue that they have tried to reach an agreement with Wiley over the use of the stage name in the past, but he continues to produce apparel and use the Pattie Gonia name for appearances across the country.

‘We’re not against art, creative expression or commentary about a brand,’ Patagonia said in a statement as it filed the suit.

‘We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on issues that matter- but in a way that respects Patagonia’s intellectual property and ability to use our brand to sell products and advocate for the environment.’

But online, some netizens hit out at the company for being hypocrites, with Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Choe saying it is ‘another example of the left eating their own.

‘Even woke Patagonia has limits,’ he claimed. 

Drag performer Pattie Gonia (pictured in July) is facing a lawsuit from popular clothing brand Patagonia over trademark infringement

The outdoor apparel company argues in the complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Central District of Californiaon Wednesday, that drag performer Pattie Gonia’s name competes ‘directly’ with the products and advocacy work that are core to Patagonia

Some netizens hit out at the company as being hypocrites

According to the lawsuit, the outerwear company first approached Wiley about the potential conflict when he was discussing a fundraising partnership with Hydroflask and the North Face, one of Patagonia’s rivals, in 2022.

But Hydroflask ‘was concerned that Patagonia might view this type of promotional work under the Pattie Gonia name as likely to confuse consumers about an association between Hydroflask and Patagonia,’ the complaint claims.

At that point, Patagonia reached out to Wiley to lay out an agreement, which the company’s lawyers claim included that the drag performer not use her name ‘in any form’ on products, not use or display Patagonia’s logo and not to use the same font that Patagonia uses.

In excerpts of emails included in the lawsuit, however, Wiley and his business partner did not seem to explicitly agree to the terms, but replied that they would ‘keep note of it.’

Pattie Gonia then registered the domain name ‘pattiegoniamerch.com’ and began selling screen-printed t-shirts and hoodies reading ‘Pattie Gonia Hiking Club’ as well as stickers using the brand’s font and silhouetted mountain logo as she promoted appearances at theaters and arenas across the country, the suit claims.

By September 2025, Wiley also sought to trademark the brand ‘Pattie Gonia’ for use on clothing and apparel and to promote environmental activism, at which point Patagonia says its lawyers reached out again.

‘Patagonia remains supportive of your work, but must insist that the Pattie Gonia persona not be commercialized and continue to adhere to the commitments made in 2022,’ company representatives wrote.

The drag queen has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, which feature posts of her in boots with six-inch tall heels or backpacking 100 miles in drag down the California coast to raise money for outdoor nonprofits

In 2024, the lawsuit claims, she started selling screen-printed t-shirts and hoodies

‘Unfortunately, these latest product sales force Patagonia’s hand and so I’m asking that you discontinue sales of t-shirts and stickers (or any product) using Pattie Gonia branding or designs substantially similar to Patagonia’s logos.

At that point, emails show, Wiley claimed that Patagonia’s view of their agreement was ‘incorrect,’ and said she told company representatives in a 2022 phone call that ‘Pattie Gonia the drag queen and environmentalist is inspired by a region in South America.

‘It’s wonderful that both Patagonia the brand and Pattie Gonia the drag queen were inspired by Patagonia’s beauty,’ she wrote in 2025. 

Wiley then claimed that any similarity between fonts and logos was ‘done by a fan as fan art’ and insisted ‘we have never sold this fan-art.’ 

He and his business partner then went on to agree that they wanted to ‘avoid any perceived association with the brand Patagonia’ after discovering that a company it owned ‘developed and sold tactical and military gear to the US government and police departments across the nation.

‘Consumers have yet to hold the brand Patagonia responsible for NOT thinking beyond profit with the creation of Broken Arrow, which supports the very people and institutions destroying the planet – the US military is, after all, the world’s largest global polluter,’ Wiley wrote.

‘It is a disconcerting fact that for a company that claims to be “in business to save our home planet,”‘ he added.

Pattie Gonia also allegedly started selling stickers using the brand’s font and silhouetted mountain logo as she promoted appearances at theaters and arenas across the country

Wiley and his business partner then said they ‘have never and will never reference the brand Patagonia’s logo or brand’ and insisted that there was ‘plenty of room’ for both Patagonia and Pattie Gonia to ‘play in this box.’

They then said they ‘trust Patagonia will stay on their side and we will stay on ours.’

Lawyers for Patagonia followed up about a month later, requesting a meeting to discuss ‘a way forward.’

‘We are genuinely interested in at least having a neutral relationship, in particular at a moment when the threats to public lands are so acute,’ they wrote.

‘And we are happy to discuss Patagonia’s government business that was discontinued three years ago. If you think there are valid criticisms of the company about that business then by all means share that with your community.’

Wiley never responded to the email, Patagonia claims, and went on to celebrate one million followers on October 5, 2025 by displaying her copy cat Pattie Gonia logo on gloves.

‘Pattie Gonia began using the Pattie Gonia trademark long after the Patagonia trademarks became famous,’ lawyers for the brand argue. 

‘The Pattie Gonia trademark and Pattie Gonia Products are likely to dilute Patagonia’s famous and distinctive marks by diminishing their distinctiveness and singular association with Patagonia.’

Some people have already confused Pattie Gonia with the brand, the lawyers claim, with screenshots of a Pattie Gonia social media post showing commenters praising the company.

One person even wrote that they ‘genuinely thought this was a Patagonia ad.’

‘To maintain our own rights, we must prevent others from copying our brands and logos,’ the lawyers argue. ‘If we do not, we risk losing the ability to defend our trademarks entirely.

‘To put a finer point on it, we cannot selectively choose to enforce our rights based on whether we agree with a particular point of view.’

‘For these reasons, Pattie Gonia’s use of a near-copy of our name commercially… poses long-term threats to Patagonia’s brand and our activism,’ they added. 

The company is now requesting a ‘nominal’ $1 in monetary damages and court orders blocking Wiley from selling infringing merchandise or receiving federal ‘Pattie Gonia’ trademarks. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Pattie Gonia for comment.