Former Creative Director of adidas Football, Sam Handy, has been rummaging around in the adidas archives to reveal two early prototypes that were being worked on in the run up to the launch of the Predator 18+ back in 2017 – the boot that marked the return of the Predator series.
Handy, now in the role of VP of Design for adidas Running, played an instrumental role in the comeback of the adidas Predator after the silo was discontinued in favour of the ACE series back in 2015. The final result was of course the first ever laceless Predator boot, but now Handy has provided a glimpse at what could have been as he dips into the boot vault to reveal a couple of intriguing and familiar designs.
The role that the ACE series played in the creation of the new generation Predator is clear to see in the silhouettes of the prototypes with the laceless design and pull tabs on the tongue and heel. It looks like adidas were tempted to revert back to an iconic Three Stripe formation upon release of the Predator before opting for a fresh aesthetic to avoid those throwback links. Handy's prototypes feature the Predator stripes from the 1998 Accelerator and 2000 Precision, two of the most famous Predator sons.
The designers at adidas have a tendency to subtly tease upcoming projects in cryptic ways and Handy's timing of the posts may start to get players excited for a new Predator project that could re-visit some the most favoured Predator Three Stripes set-ups. It might simply be that he's dug them out and is reminiscing, but we, like many others, are always ready for some special edition Predator treatment. Especially as the landmark 25th year of Predator comes to a close...
