From Sketch to Showcase: The Creative Process of Kelechi Sandra Innocent

For Kelechi Sandra Innocent, fashion starts with a pencil. Before the fabrics, before the fittings, before the final runway moment, there’s a sketch, a single idea captured on paper, a moment of raw creativity that will eventually transform into something real.

Sketching isn’t just a step in the process for her; it’s the foundation of everything she creates.

She has sketched for every single collection she’s ever designed, shaping entire runway presentations with the stroke of a pencil. Her sketchbooks are filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of designs, some that have gone on to be showcased in front of international audiences, others that remain as quiet studies of ideas not yet realised. Every page tells a story of exploration, some drawings are loose and expressive, capturing movement and energy, while others are precise, with carefully calculated proportions and detail.

Beyond her own work, Kelechi has also sketched for other designers. Some come to her for creative input, others need help translating vague concepts into something visual. She doesn’t talk about it often, but those who know her well have seen the way her sketches have influenced collections outside of her own. Her ability to understand a designer’s vision and bring it to life on paper is a skill that has made her not just a designer, but a true artist in the world of fashion.

When she began sketching for Afric Aura by Kenshu, she wasn’t just designing clothes, she was building an entire world. She started, as she always does, with feelings rather than specifics. What was this collection supposed to say? How should someone feel when they wear it? What was the energy behind it?

She filled page after page with quick, instinctive strokes, letting her mind move freely before refining anything. The early sketches weren’t detailed or polished; they were about capturing silhouettes and movement. She experimented with proportions, drawing some pieces with exaggerated structures, others with soft, flowing lines. She imagined how the fabric would react to motion, sketching not just the garment, but the way it would drape, shift, and come to life.

Once she had the essence of the collection, she went back and started refining. This is where the details started to emerge, the lines became sharper, the embellishments more intentional. She spent days fine-tuning the prints, working with traditional African motifs and reinterpreting them for a modern, fashion-forward audience. Some designs were redrawn over and over again, adjusting for better balance, more impact, or to push the creative boundaries even further.

Her sketching process isn’t just about technical accuracy; it’s about emotion. If a sketch didn’t feel right, she started over. If the lines didn’t tell the story she wanted, she kept drawing. By the time she was done, Afric Aura was already fully alive on paper, before a single fabric had been cut, before any sample had been sewn.

Kelechi doesn’t need mood boards or digital renderings to bring her ideas to life, she just needs a blank page and a pencil. When she talks about her designs, she doesn’t describe them in words first, she sketches them. It’s her first language, the way she translates the ideas in her head into something tangible.

Her sketchbooks aren’t just filled with planned collections; they are full of experiments, personal projects, and designs that may never see the runway. She sketches for inspiration, for exploration, and sometimes just to clear her mind. Even when she’s not working on a collection, she sketches for herself, ideas that might take shape years later or remain as pure creative exercises.

It’s this natural, instinctive relationship with sketching that sets her apart. She doesn’t just use it as a tool; she uses it as a way of thinking, of creating, of understanding fashion at its most fundamental level.

For Kelechi Sandra Innocent, sketching isn’t just part of the job. It is where fashion begins.