Adidas has launched a new iteration of the Predator 25 boot, the Obsidian Strike, which the German manufacturer is presenting as the first leather model within the current Predator 25 range. According to 90min, the boot combines premium silver accents and vivid red pops with heritage design details, positioning it as a modern reinterpretation of one of football's more enduring silhouettes.
The Predator line has been a fixture in professional football for more than three decades, and the decision to reintroduce a leather upper into the range reflects a broader trend across the boot market in recent years. Several manufacturers have revisited natural materials and archival construction methods, responding to demand from players and supporters who associate leather uppers with feel, fit, and a certain aesthetic continuity with the game's past.
The Obsidian Strike's colourway — dark base, silver detailing, red contrast — is a deliberate step away from the brighter, more maximalist palettes that have dominated boot releases in recent seasons. Whether that restraint is a commercial calculation or a straightforward design choice, the result is a boot that sits closer in spirit to the Predator boots that became prominent in the 1990s and early 2000s than to the synthetic models that have occupied most of the range in recent years.
Adidas has not been alone in returning to leather. The wider industry has seen a quiet rehabilitation of the material, with premium and limited-edition lines from multiple manufacturers leaning into it as a point of difference in a market where synthetic uppers have become the functional standard. For adidas, applying that logic to the Predator specifically carries a degree of symbolic weight, given the boot's historical association with control and precision rather than raw pace.
No pricing or release date details were included in the 90min report. The boot's availability — whether it will be offered broadly at retail or positioned as a limited release — remains unclear at this stage.