The phrase "contrary to prevailing" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to indicate that something is in opposition to what is generally accepted or expected. For example, "The newspaper argued contrary to prevailing opinion that the reform should be implemented immediately."
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was contrary to prevailing academic wisdom, and was effectively ignored.
Contrary to prevailing opinion, I didn't grow a beard in obeisance to fashion.
A new study indicates that, contrary to prevailing wisdom, children are often as baffled by technology as adults.
"Soldier of Love," Sade's first No. 1 album in 24 years, runs contrary to prevailing sales trends.
Shortly thereafter, Berengar, who always exhibited great independence of thought, began to teach ideas contrary to prevailing beliefs.
"Our experience shows that contrary to prevailing stereotypes, women are the highest adopters of technological solutions, particularly solar," says Ajaita Shah, founder and CEO of Frontier Markets, a social enterprise employing women to distribute clean energy products in India.
Contrary to the prevailing trend in magazines, circulation remains strong.
Moreover, there is an increasing recognition that, contrary to the prevailing myth, most western countries, including Britain and the United States, aggressively used industrial policy in the earlier stages of their developments.
Contrary to the prevailing perception, the adolescents born prematurely considered that the quality of their lives was quite high, despite the difficulties with vision, hearing, speech, and mobility reported by a quarter of the participants.
Contrary to the prevailing dark assessment of Japan in the 1990s, these changes sound like a country shifting its consumption habits for the better, living within its means and reducing its environmental footprint.
Contrary to the prevailing myth, Yankee Stadium went through more than a "face lift" back then.
