trendsetter

noun

trend·​set·​ter ˈtren(d)-ˌse-tər 

variants or less commonly trend-setter

plural trendsetters also trend-setters

: one that sets a trend : someone or something that starts or helps to popularize a new fashion, style, movement, etc.

a trendsetter in the fashion industry

Every ten years or so, for a different set of reasons each time, cultural trendsetters rally behind one musician with whom they sense a bond and who then comes to symbolize jazz to the mass media.

—Francis Davis

The county has become a trendsetter in other types of environmental legislation …

—Chemical & Engineering News

Synonyms

• bellwether
• leader
• pacemaker
• pacer
• pacesetter

Examples of trendsetter in a Sentence

a closely watched trendsetter in women's fashions

Recent Examples on the Web

While others followed, Rayburn was first, putting itself into a position of being thought of as a trendsetter and an innovator. —Llewellyn King, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024

Related Articles By 2015, the brand had teamed with Vivienne Westwood twice on coveted squiggle-print satchel bags, while trendsetters like Swift, Emma Stone, and Suki Waterhouse were often seen on set and off-duty with a Cambridge Satchel bag by their side. —Olivia Cigliano, WWD, 1 Oct. 2024

In the 1980s, the first ornamental goose sat perched on one Midwestern trendsetter's porch. —Isabella Milano, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Oct. 2024

The demise of a former trendsetter The Bridgehampton store opened in 1999, taking the place of a former regional discount store, Caldor. —Chris Isidore, CNN, 19 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above