NOMOQ: Rewriting the Rules of Footwear with a Fully Digitized Future

Interview with Yash Mevada, Founder of NOMOQ

At the crossroads of industrial design, digital craftsmanship, and boundary-pushing innovation stands NOMOQ, a next-generation footwear design and development company founded by Yash Mevada. With over a decade of hands-on experience in 3D printing and digital manufacturing, Yash has spent years building the future, one printed layer at a time. His mission? To completely rethink how shoes are made, starting with the core belief that the traditional footwear model is due for a radical shift.

From Industrial Design to Footwear Disruption

Hailing from India and trained as an industrial designer, Yash has been 3D printing nearly every day since 2015. His journey began with the founding of PrintToMake-a digital manufacturing agency that completed over 1,000 projects across industries like aerospace, medical, and engineering. But by 2023, it became clear where his passion and the market’s pain point intersected: footwear.

“I realized that the footwear industry, despite being massive, was still heavily reliant on outdated, labor-intensive processes,” Yash explains. “At the same time, I had the tools and expertise to do something about it.”

That realization led to the creation of NOMOQ - a name derived from the term “No Minimum Order Quantity,” highlighting one of the industry's biggest barriers to innovation.

What is a Fully Digitized Workflow?

At the heart of NOMOQ’s work is a commitment to a fully digitized workflow. While the traditional footwear supply chain involves numerous materials, tools, and manual steps, NOMOQ replaces that complexity with an end-to-end digital system.

From 3D scanning of a client’s foot to computational design, rendering, and lifecycle management software, NOMOQ creates made-to-measure footwear entirely through software and advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing, digital knitting, and automated stitching.

“Think of it like this,” says Yash. “In a traditional workflow, there’s no undo button. But in our world, Control+Z exists. You can iterate endlessly, with far greater speed and precision.”

Customization at Scale

NOMOQ isn’t just about creating one-off footwear art pieces - it’s about building systems that scale. One current project involves creating a platform to develop fully customized football cleats for athletes, with the ability to scale those configurations across teams.

The approach redefines what a footwear design agency looks like. NOMOQ doesn’t design for factories - they design for machines, ensuring their output is optimized for digital-first production.

Inside the Process

Each project begins with an assessment of the client’s needs: number of pairs, target audience, price point, and application. Based on this, NOMOQ selects the right 3D printing technology and materials first before design even begins.

From there:

• Foot scans are captured digitally

• Lasts are generated and modified

• Custom shoes are 3D modeled with parametric tools

• Materials like TPU and TPE are chosen based on elasticity and shore hardness

• Prototypes are printed using desktop and industrial 3D printers (including SLA and MJF machines)

This reversed approach - production method before design is key to reducing waste, shortening timelines, and opening new creative possibilities.

Materials & Manufacturing Challenges

In the early stages, sourcing the right materials for functional, flexible footwear was a challenge. NOMOQ now primarily uses TPU and TPE - materials that offer the flexibility, durability, and customization needed for footwear components.

They continue to modify and optimize 3D printers to handle these materials in ways that standard systems can’t - bridging the gap between experimental design and high-performance wear.

The Future of Footwear

Yash and his team aren’t just designing shoes. They’re designing the infrastructure and workflows that could power the next generation of footwear brands. By eliminating MOQs and bypassing traditional tooling costs, NOMOQ opens doors for startups, athletes, and designers who previously couldn’t enter the market.

As the footwear industry stands on the cusp of a major shift, NOMOQ is making that future tangible: one scan, one file, and one 3D print at a time.

This article was produced from an official FXPO interview conducted by Nader Alkhabbaz with NOMOQ founder and CEO, Yash Mevada.