Adebayo Agbelekale
I.B.Bayo

Born in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, the ninth generation of a traditional weaving family, Bayo [pronounced Bio] learned his trade at an early age from generations of cloth artisans. Affectionately known as IBB, because people think he looks like a former Nigerian president with this name, Bayo learned to weave and dye from his mother, and to sew from his father who made traditional clothing for Nigerian royalty.

Bayo attended the Niké Center for Art and Culture in Osogbo where he studied batik cloth dying, quilt making, reverse appliqué, wood carving, and painting. Niké is considered a national treasure in Nigeria for her artwork, and her school is dedicated to preserving traditional Yoruba art forms.

In 1995, Bayo joined a group of artists from the center known as, The Children of Osun, for a U.S. tour. They performed ancestral dance dramas and exhibited their artwork at diverse venues across the nation. Bayo came to California for an art exhibit where he met Rachel Clark, a world renowned folk artist who lectures internationally on her creative style of wearable art. She offered to teach Bayo Western clothing design and continues to mentor and inspire his work. Bayo adapts his reverse appliqué and quilting techniques to American styled jackets and vests. He combines the hand woven, hand dyed, and embroidered fabrics made by his family in Nigeria with other fabrics to create the uniquely designed clothing in his I.B.Bayo line. He also teaches Nigerian Batik and Reverse Appliqué workshops, and gives presentations on his family history showing clothing that spans from past generations to modern creations.