Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto continues to be an influence for adidas ever since the two partnered in 2002, and that involved football boots over the course of time. Who can forget his vivid animal visuals slapped on various F50 adiZeros? Now, the avant-garde fashion icon takes on the 2024 Predator boots as the latest iteration of the Y-3 partnership. When we think of style, we usually think of flair and flamboyance. But another way of conceptualising style is through elegance, luxury and refinement, and that’s what this boot aims to show off.
The Yamamoto Predator ’24 is predominantly off-white with minimal white accent courtesy of the adidas striping. In both the upper and the outsole, it’s that thematic cream that serves as the base colour. Besides white, black is also there to further that polished touch through the fold-over tongue. Yamamoto’s signature signs off on both tongue and soleplate to cap off the design. The overall package is indeed minimalist and quite a departure from the bold prints of Yamamoto football boots we had in the past.
One thing to point out is that at first glance, this look similar to the Golden Boy Predator adidas gifted to Jude Bellingham. However, the colour combination on those is white and pearl gold (kind of like rose gold). Nevertheless, this release is the closest you can get on that Bellingham-exclusive pair, unless adidas decides to retail them. And of course you’ll have the Real Madrid star wear the boots right at the resumption of domestic football. This is coming on the heels of him wearing the Predator Roteiro for the international break.
There’s only one sad point for this release. At least that is the case for the laceless and laced elite Predator wearers. Y-3 Predator is only available in the FT model. And we’re guessing that’s for a good reason. The fold-over tongue simply adds that timelessness to a boot that is supposed to be an intersection between performance and luxurious style.
