break the mould (mold, U.S. English)
idiom

- to be new and different

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)


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WORD ORIGIN

A mould is a hollow container with a particular shape into which soft or liquid substances are poured, so that when the substance hardens it takes the shape of the container. Moulds are used by many different industries to mass-produce various parts and components.

Thus if one "breaks the mould", the old mould is discarded for a new one, which paves the way for a different approach to doing something. Mould is also used as a way to say that someone has the characteristics or traits of another person:

- He's cast in the same mould as his father.

- She's an opera singer in the Maria Callas mould.

Mould is also a verb that refers to the act of moulding, meaning to shape or form something (The clay was moulded into beautiful plates and bowls) or to guide and determine the growth of something/someone (The company does a good job of moulding young business school graduates into executive managers).


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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation
say something like:

"They BROKE THE MOULD with their new line of environmentally-friendly products."