Ben Alun-Jones
Co-founder and chief product officer of Unmade
Ben Alun-Jones is a co-founder and the chief product officer of Unmade, a London-born software company that lets fashion and sportswear brands connect demand directly to production, making customised and on-demand apparel possible at scale. Unmade's clients include New Balance and Rapha, and the company was later acquired by the garment maker Hi-Tech Apparel.
| Role | Co-founder and chief product officer, Unmade |
|---|---|
| Since | August 2015 |
| Organisation | Unmade, London |
| Clients | New Balance, Rapha, Castelli, Decathlon |
| Owner | Hi-Tech Apparel |
Who is Ben Alun-Jones?
Ben Alun-Jones is a product leader and entrepreneur based in London. He is a co-founder of Unmade and has served as its chief product officer since August 2015, according to his professional profile. Unmade develops software that automates the design and manufacturing steps needed to produce personalised or on-demand garments, so that brands can make items after a customer orders rather than before.
Career
Alun-Jones built Unmade around the product and software side of mass customisation. He has presented the company's ideas at industry events including the Decoded Fashion London Summit in 2015 and Retail's Big Show, the NRF conference in New York, in 2018. Unmade has since been acquired by the global garment manufacturer Hi-Tech Apparel, bringing its software together with large-scale production capacity.
Influence on the fashion business
Unmade's platform is organised around three capabilities:
- Customise: unlimited manufacture-ready variations of a product, supporting several production methods
- Optimise: automation of existing supply chains using patented and proprietary technology
- Deliver: scalable production with on-brand product curation and visualisation
Brands using the platform include New Balance, for direct-to-consumer customisation and team sports, and Rapha, for custom cycling teamwear, with other clients such as Castelli and Decathlon. Team sportswear, where every club needs its own colours, names and numbers, is one of the clearest use cases for this kind of technology.
Ben Alun-Jones and technology
The central idea behind Unmade is that each customised product should arrive at the factory as a manufacture-ready file, without manual pattern or artwork work for every order. Translating a customer's choices directly into production instructions is a software and data problem, and it is the part of the business Alun-Jones has led as chief product officer. The approach links consumer-facing design tools with factory systems, and its visualisation features let shoppers and teams see a product before it is made.
Why it matters
Alun-Jones and Unmade addressed one of fashion's long-standing goals: making to order at industrial scale. Their work is a practical reference for brands exploring personalisation, on-demand production and reduced overstock, and the acquisition by a manufacturer shows how such software is becoming part of the supply chain itself.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Ben Alun-Jones?
Ben Alun-Jones is a co-founder and chief product officer of Unmade, a London software company that connects demand directly to production for customised and on-demand apparel. He has held the product role since August 2015.
What does Unmade do?
Unmade provides software that automates design and manufacturing so brands can offer customised products at scale. Clients include New Balance and Rapha, and the company was acquired by the garment maker Hi-Tech Apparel.