Gallery ILÉ is proud to unveil its first creative collaboration with the weavers at the Royal Palace of Abomey, located in southern Benin.

Initiated by King Agonglo the 8th - one of the greatest patrons of artisanship in the history of ancient Dahomey, now Benin - the ateliers of Agonglovo - meaning in Fòn language "weaved by the hand at the palace of King Agonglo" - became renowned throughout West Africa for their unparalleled weaving technique, and for ultimately revolutionizing the structural components of the traditional weaving table. 

During his reign (1789 - 1797), King Agonglo helped nurture some of the best master weavers the empire has ever seen. Today, the very descendants of these master weavers continue to perpetuate this legacy inside the same ateliers, located at the heart of the royal palace, a monument now inscribed by UNESCO on the list of Humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Emerging from this symbiotic creative collaboration, ILÉ is thrilled to present a capsule collection of Tote Bags and Scarfs, produced exclusively in organic yarns, using ancestral techniques, and dyed only in natural pigments formulated on site in a completely sustainable and environmentally conscious approach.