Dragged through the mud? Patagonia takes on Pattie Gonia in battle over brand name

The outdoor brand is suing a drag queen for infringing its trademark but she is digging in her high heels and fans are calling for a boycott...

- Lily Isaacs

For years Wyn Wiley has been performing as the drag queen Pattie Gonia, who has danced on top of mountains in heels and once walked 100 miles in full ensemble.

In outdoorsy communities across the US, Pattie’s rainbow-coloured stickers are a signal of queerness and allyship.

Those stickers are now the subject of a controversial lawsuit by the outdoor brand Patagonia, which is suing Wiley for trademark infringement. The lawsuit, filed in January, calls for a nominal $1 in damages, plus legal fees. But it is requesting a court order that prevents Wiley from using any branding that resembles its own.

Wiley last week announced his plans to fight the case.

It’s a complex situation for a brand with a reputation as a corporate “good guy”. In 2022 Patagonia’s billionaire founder, Yvon Chouinard, announced he had given the company away to a charitable trust and a group of non-profit organisations dedicated to tackling the climate emergency. “All profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to ‘save our home planet’” the firm announced at the time.

“If they’re in business to save the home planet, why are they suing a climate activist?” said Wiley, who has raised more than $1m hiking across the US.