When actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie took over a Manhattan studio building in 2023 with a plan to offer clothes shopping, Turkish coffee, and Syrian mini pies, and workshops for under-represented tailors and artisans from around the world, part of the cachet was that 57 Great Jones Street, now called Atelier Jolie, had once been occupied by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. But now it turns out the brand name for the operation was also previously taken, by artists and artisans who are very much alive—and not happy about the actress’s use of the name.
The pre-existing Atelier Jolie, in Easton, Pennsylvania, was established in 2021 by Omnaia Jolie Abdou, an artist, curator, and entrepreneur, according to the U.S. Sun, which reports that the Pennsylvania Jolie is asking that the actress and humanitarian’s trademark application, filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, be denied.
The trademark, according to Jolie Abdou’s filing opposing the new trademark, is “primarily used to identify and promote art and design studio goods and services featuring the works of Omnaia Jolie Abdou, managing member of Applicant, which include but are not limited to custom art pieces, apparel and luxury wear, paintings, sculptures, pottery, prints, posters, and other custom merchandise and artistic works.”
The actress’s lawyers argue that “there is no actual competition” between the two establishments, and that “it is virtually impossible for there to be a likelihood for confusion.”
The Sun reports that lawyers for the two parties have for months been negotiating a settlement, which could stipulate that the actress would have to pay to use the name.
Neither Atelier Jolie immediately responded to requests for comment.
Angelina Jolie’s establishment offers classes, workshops, residencies, and exhibitions at “a site for co-creation and the discovery of art, craft and design work from cultures around the world.” Currently on view is a show of fine art photographer Jeremy Dennis, an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, whose work “centers Indigenous identity, culture, and the legacies of colonial assimilation.” Also on offer is wearable art from L’enchanteur (identical twins Dynasty and Soull Ogun) and from Zarif, an Afghan fashion brand.
A banner on the Pennsylvania Atelier Jolie’s website is still promoting the February 2025 opening of a new location in Easton; the only listed exhibition, “The Language of heART,” opened in 2023. The featured collection on the home page includes a piece by Jolie Abdou, Derriére, a 15-inch-high vessel based on a woman’s body, with the named part prominently featured. It’s listed at $497.
