Fashion Sampling Production and T-shirt Print Studio Manager JOHANNESBURG

Overview

Ananse is pioneering Africa’s first integrated fashion hubs, a vibrant ecosystem where creatives and artisans come to learn, create, and grow. Located in Johannesburg, with Lagos and Accra as purpose-built spaces where African fashion entrepreneurs access training, production tools, studios, and industrial equipment. We are a one-stop shop for fashion innovation, offering training masterclasses, sample development services, equipment rental, and dynamic studio and production spaces.

The Role

We are seeking a Fashion Sampling Production and T‑Shirt Print Studio Manager to oversee the operations of Ananse’s Johannesburg Fashion Hub studio, ensuring efficient workflows across design, sampling, small-run production, and digital innovation. This role requires a hands-on leader with technical expertise in garment production, digital design, and printing, combined with strong organizational skills to support fashion entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses.

Responsibilities

• Fashion Design & Sampling
• Supervise the sample room, ensuring timely development of prototypes and collections.
• Oversee pattern making, garment construction, and precision sampling workflows.
• Manage digital prototype development using tools such as CLO3D.
• Implement luxury quality control standards across all sampling processes.
• Develop and maintain tech packs to ensure consistency and accuracy in production.
• Revenue Generation
• Work closely with the sales and marketing team to promote studio services to fashion hub users and external clients.
• Support the development of campaigns showcasing the studio’s sampling, printing, and digital design capabilities.
• Drive revenue generation by identifying opportunities to expand client engagement and service uptake.
• Provide technical input for marketing materials, client pitches, and promotional events.
• Plan and manage the production of small runs in the studio, supporting fashion entrepreneurs with limited-scale manufacturing.
• Ensure efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and high-quality standards in small-batch production.
• Guide fashion entrepreneurs in understanding real-world production timelines, costing, and material efficiency.
• Coordinate fabric sourcing, printing, and garment finishing for short-run projects.
• Collaborate with machinists and studio technicians to ensure smooth operation of production equipment.
• Manage the print studio, including digital fabric printing and textile finishing.
• Oversee T‑shirt printing operations, ensuring high-quality outputs for entrepreneurs and SMEs.
• Innovate with new printing techniques to expand studio capabilities.
• Lead adoption of digital design tools (CLO3D and similar) for virtual prototyping.
• Ensure proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop for design, print preparation, and production workflows.
• Integrate digital workflows with physical production for efficiency and innovation.
• Support designers in leveraging digital platforms to streamline design-to-production processes.

Training & Development

• Provide training for designers and tailors on sample room operations, digital tools, and production workflows.
• Build capacity among fashion hub users to adopt industry-standard practices.
• Mentor entrepreneurs on balancing creative vision with commercial viability.
• Maintain accurate records of production schedules, costs, and outputs.
• Liaise with fashion hub users and external clients to ensure satisfaction and repeat business.
• Support training initiatives and workshops for entrepreneurs using the Fashion Hub facilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor €™s degree or diploma in fashion design, garment production or quality assurance
• Demonstrated ability to promote studio services and drive revenues.
• Strong knowledge of digital design tools (CLO3D or similar).
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop (essential for printing and design workflows).
• Experience in fabric printing, textile finishing, and T‑shirt printing.
• Expertise in digital prototype management, precision sampling, luxury quality control, tech pack development, and small-run production management.
• Team management experience in a studio setting, with the ability to lead and motivate designers, tailors, and production staff.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, conflict resolution and administrative skills.
• Highly effective project management, prioritisation, multi-tasking and time management skills.
• Strong entrepreneurial mind-set and problem-solving capabilities with a record of finding feasible solutions to complex problems in an environment with incomplete information and tight timelines.
• Willingness to work outside of normal working hours.

Apply on the Ananse Africa page on LinkedIn

Why Join Us

Ananse is a dynamic start-up e-commerce platform connecting global consumers with African fashion designers and artisans. Our end-to-end payments and logistics solution provides a plug-and-play service that enables creative entrepreneurs to trade globally. We are passionate about empowering African fashion entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Join our team of innovators and changemakers in a collaborative environment that encourages creativity, professional growth, and impact.

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