In tough economic times, it's a natural tendency for consumers to revert to tried & true classics that will wager the storm - things like sturdy herringbones, simple stripes, and neutral palettes typically make the cut. The challenge for designers during these periods becomes a question of renewal. How does one refresh a classic enough to make it look new? At what point does "refreshed" meet too "trendy"?

Enter an unexpected classic to bridge the divide between the safety of timelessness and the continued demand for modernism: our lovely and long lost friend, lace. It seems like just yesterday that lace was considered stodgy or passé, at least for anything other than lingerie. Today a handful of influential designers and young rising talents are using the material in form and in inspiration, creating works of art nothing like our grandmother's doily collection. From fashion to furniture, here's how the trend is playing out:

THE PRADA PLAY
Long hailed as one of fashion's leading style-makers, Muiccia Prada has made a career of turning "stodgy" into "modernity" and her fall 2008 runway collection was no exception, launching lace full throttle into the new millenium. As Sarah Mower of Style.com (the website of Vogue & W magazines) wrote, this decision would subsequently "send the [material] mills into frantic overdrive".

While Prada's decision to use the material was probably not affected by the discussion of a looming economy, she has managed to offer that which many consumers are looking for right now: design that is timeless yet disctinctively modern. Using large-scale patterns and three dimensional surface affects, the final pieces appear almost sculptural in form.

THE ECO-ASPECT
Textile designer Laura Anne Marsden is one of those up and coming creative minds who is turning lace on its classic ear and offering up a modern take. Using mixed heating techniques in combination with hand-stitching and needlework, her Eternal Lace collection turns plastic bags into works of art that would make Chantilly envious. With plans for adapting the technique to lighting and furniture in the works, as well as a recent purchase by London's V&A museum, it looks like Marsden is betting on this classic for some time to come.

THE PATTERN OF LIGHT
Design duo Bernabei Freeman's works in lighting and furniture are also following the trend. Their perforated aluminum designs, such as the "Lace Light" shown here appear to have overlapping structural form and offer exquisite patterns of light and shadows that reflect light on walls. One designer referred to it brilliantly as a "baroque-style wallpaper you can turn on and off at will".

Design genius Marcel Wanders has created a piece which similarly casts shadows and rays of light through lace openwork. He calls it the Crochet Lamp.

THE ARCHITECTURAL DIMENSION
The patent-pending techniques of Helen Amy Murray are influenced by carvings in wood and marble she discovered on a research trip through India. Ever inspired by both natural and urban architecture, Murray's works on fabric often resemble 3D sculptural forests. The one depicted here bears a striking resemblance to Prada's lace collection.

Perhaps one of the best examples of the lace trend in architectural action is Brennan Buck's Tecnicolor Bloom comprised of 14,000 plywood panels. Knicknamed among members of the industry as simple The Lace Tunnel, the installation won a FEIDAD award and was recently on display at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. As the website suggests, it "shifts between alternating zones of sharp focus and vague blur, dense opacity and light porosity" and is an excellent study in the visual affects of pattern and light. Expect similar architectural ideas sprouting up in retail environments near you any time soon.

On the fringe side of the trend (but also highly notable), the Ring Dome by Minsuk Cho that stood in Milan's popular Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II during the 08 furniture fair alludes to a similar sense of pattern interest in architecture. Constructed from hula hoop-style rings and simple straps, the piece challenges structural norms amd re-patterns the urban landscape.

Technically speaking, Antonio Citterio's "lace" tiles should be noted for both their architectural use (these beautiful hexagon tiles were fit together as an outershell of another installation at the Milan fair last April) as well as their ecological savvy. The resin the tiles are made from is solvent and VOC-free.

No matter the application, lace has clearly become an inspirational material across many design industries. As timeless safe bet, as a new modern statement, or even as a convenient evolution from the much-used baroque and damask wallpaper patterns of late - lace is the lesson of the day.