An ‘Oscar’ View

What was old is new again. And this season, it’s all about lace.

The antiquated fabric has been seemingly reborn and is now turning heads—from Chanel couture on the runway to the sets of Academy Award-nominated movies and popular television shows.

Next weekend, Steven Spielberg’s dramatic epic, “Lincoln,” will vie for 12 Oscars, one of them for production design. And MYB Textiles—carried exclusively in the United States by Prince of Scots in Water Mill—had a major hand in that. The Scottish manufacturer used century-old looms to create the lace drapes and tablecloths seen throughout the film’s White House sets.

“It makes the whole lifestyle experience pretty much complete,” Prince of Scots President Tim Danser said of the lace products during an interview last week at his store. “When you see that, it transcends you back in time. It’s just classic beauty.”

But the 19th century-style White House furnishings are not exclusive to the blockbuster film, he noted. They are all part of MYB Textile’s home collection.

The cotton tablecloth is done in a baroque pattern called “Paisley” by MYB. The ornate window treatment panels are called the “Helena” and their growing popularity only adds to the lace resurgence, not to mention a trend toward the Scottish lifestyle, he said.

“They’re woven on looms that date back to 1900,” Mr. Danser explained. “It’s the same equipment, they’ve [MYB] just updated to

new technology. A lot of the patterns have been in their historical archives since the 1900s. There’s also some new things that are more updated and contemporary.”

MYB Textiles was founded as Morton Young and Borland Ltd. in 1900 in Ayrshire, Scotland as a manufacturer of Scottish Leno Gauze weave, later known as “Scottish Madras.” By 1913, MYB had expanded to lace-making with Nottingham lace looms, which have now been modified and networked to CAD computers in the design office that holds an archive of more than 50,000 original drawings.

This past July, Mr. Danser opened up shop in Water Mill at just the opportune moment, he said.

“It was a very nice thing for us to get ahold of something that we saw is relevant and saw it was going to be in a nice movie and start a fashion trend in the U.S.,” he said. “Lace is a hot fashion trend right now in the clothing market. Chanel just did their winter 2013 collection in Scotland and they did it with Scottish fabric and Scottish lace. People are falling in love with it all over again.”

Lace-making is an ancient craft, but true lace wasn’t seen until the late 15th century and gained popularity during the Victorian age. Since then, it has come and gone, Mr. Danser reported.

“It’s always been popular in wedding dresses and grandma’s tablecloth,” he said, “but to actually have mass appeal, this is the first time it’s been mass mass.”

In addition to “Lincoln,” MYB has also woven fabrics for television series such as “Downton Abbey,” “Deadwood” and “Boardwalk Empire,” as well as the films, “Interview with the Vampire,” “Nanny McPhee” and “Twilight,” according to Mr. Danser.

“They create moods for the movies, which is theater,” he said, “so you can definitely create the mood for your home. They’ve mixed up the colors, too, so it doesn’t look like your grandma’s lace. Your grandma’s lace was always white and ivory; though we have that, too.”

On average, one panel runs about $400, Mr. Danser said, depending on the collection. For the “Lincoln” look, choose from the elegant Brodie Sheers, he advised, or the Douglas Sheers, which are traditional, old-fashioned prints typically seen in a Victorian home, he said.

“The ‘Helena panel’ (Lincoln’s office) and ‘Paisley’ panel (Mary Todd Lincoln’s bedroom) both look very good on the big screen,” John Burrows of Massachusetts-based J.R. Burrows & Company, a set designer for the film, said in an email last week. “The White House set is as nearly as possible an exact replica of the original rooms—full scale. It was interesting seeing these rooms built within a modern industrial warehouse. Once inside, it was very close to the feel of the upstairs of the real President’s house.”

The Abercromby Sheers are the polar opposite, Mr. Danser reported.

“If you want to do something that’s very modern, there’s the opportunity here to do something that really sticks out,” he said, flipping through the collection. “There’s some very contemporary looks. If you have a sophisticated, seaside mansion with all glass walls, this kind of stuff would be very nice for those.”

One of the most popular drapery designs on the East End is the Gothic “Ironside” pattern from the Erskine Sheers line, Mr. Danser said. Its scrolls exude a stately feel, he added.

From the Madras Panels, singer and cultural icon Madonna uses the “Linda” in her Manhattan apartment, he said.

Prince of Scots recently installed the turquoise “Paradiso” pattern at a Water Mill estate, he continued.

“The customer wanted her home to look like an Italian villa. So what this does, whenever the sun hits it, it casts a blue light across the room,” Mr. Danser said, holding out the colored lace. “Even though it’s Scottish, you can still create that impression of something else. It’s nice to see old-world technology being very relevant today. Someone can come in and pick out something that’s like family heirloom quality that actually suits their personality.”

Or suits a movie set, Mr. Danser said. His connection to this year’s Academy Awards isn’t his first brush with the red carpet. In 2009, he dressed Jason Mraz for the Grammy Awards, where the musician snagged Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year for “I’m Yours,” he said.

Mr. Danser said he hopes his connection to winning streaks at awards shows will continue.

“It’s fun dressing the celebrities and now getting to see it on the other side, the movie side,” he said. “This side of the red carpet to that side of the red carpet.”

For more information, visit princeofscots.com.