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

Those paparazzi shots of the trio together became cultural moments, solidifying them as the trendsetters of the era. —Valerie Mesa, People.com, 12 Dec. 2024

The throwback style has been embraced through every range of the style spectrum, from vintage grail hunters to high-fashion houses like Hermès and Ralph Lauren, serving as an ultra-personal canvas of expression from street style trendsetters to quiet luxury loyalists. —Olivia Cigliano, WWD, 1 Nov. 2024

Meanwhile, trendsetters like Gigi Hadid and Sabrina Carpenter have put their mark on the trend. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 5 Sep. 2024

For Bell, an international DJ and trendsetter, partnering with B.B. Simon felt like a natural evolution. —Cassell Ferere, Forbes, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above