trendspotter

noun

trend·​spot·​ter ˈtren(d)-ˌspä-tər 

variants or trend-spotter or trend spotter

plural trendspotters or trend-spotters or trend spotters

: a person who identifies and makes predictions about developing trends in the culture at large or in a particular field (such as fashion)

In the old days, trends would percolate through the population slowly via the "and-they-told-two-friends" network. Now trends spread virally, via e-mail and instant messaging, with professional trend spotters snapping at their heels, hurrying them onward ever faster.

—Lev Grossman

Last June, the trend-spotters—people whose job is to find out what colors, styles and moods are hot—camped out in the Riviera resort town, looking at store windows and watching what café society was wearing. The verdict: the cargo pant.

—Jennifer Steinhauer

trendspotting

ˈtren(d)-ˌspä-tiŋ 

adjective

or trend-spotting

trendspotting tools

… the company did a trendspotting exercise and it found that consumer searches on the platform for gaming machines were actually on the rise.

—Anuj Bhatia

trendspotting noun

or trend-spotting

They have been remarkably accurate in their trendspotting, forecasting global changes that have proven good for downtowns.

—Liz Swaine

Trend-spotting is big business. Currently, the biggest name in the business is Faith Popcorn, whose firm, BrainReserve, has clients … that pay millions of dollars for the identification and analysis of trends.

—David Rouse

Examples of trendspotter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And just as importantly, the successful trendspotter can pinpoint when a trend will fade so businesses can smartly withdraw. —Maureen Ballatori, Forbes, 6 June 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above