The cracker industry has been rejuvenated during the 1980's by new entrants and new ideas, like the more stylish and costly ''designer crackers.'' The ferment has increased the industry's sales an estimated 40 percent during the decade, to $65 million a year.

For years, a relative handful of crackers - an estimated 100,000 annually - have been sold in the United States, mostly as curiosity items through stores like Neiman-Marcus and specialty children's toy shops. Traditionally, the main customers are British expatriates, Americans with British relatives and hard-core Anglophiles. For the last few years, Conran's stores in the United States have sold Christmas crackers, while Bloomingdale's took a shipment for the first time this year. 'French Think It Bizarre'

But to date, cracker-pulling outside Britain and the Commonwealth nations has not caught on. For example, the 30 Conran's stores in France -called Habitat, as the chain is known outside America - have stocked crackers for two years, without great success. ''The French basically think it's a bizarre idea,'' Rosemary Brown, a Habitat buyer, acknowledged. In the United States, the 13 Conran's outlets have already sold out their supply of ''several thousand boxes'' of crackers, up 30 percent from last year, said Denise Napoli, a buyer. The boxes, each containing 5 to 12 crackers, are priced at $6.95 to $14.95. Ms. Napoli described the product as ''a novelty item'' and the typical American cracker enthusiast as ''definitely an educated person, someone who actually knows what the product is.''

Ms. Napoli said that while the cracker was now a solid Christmas item at Conran's, she had doubts about its taking America by storm. ''I don't think it has mass appeal,'' she said.

Yet Mr. Lauder is hopeful that the United States, with its affinity for English culture, will develop a taste for the crackers if they are properly marketed. ''No one has really tried to exploit the cracker in the U.S. yet, so the sales are nothing compared to what they should be,'' he said. American Partner Sought

Mr. Lauder plans to attend the New York Toy Fair in February and look for an American partner to introduce English crackers to American mass marketers. Eventually, he said, he wants to begin manufacturing crackers in the United States.

While America represents hope for the future, the recent growth has come from new products and new management in the industry. Cracker design has gone well beyond the traditional red, green and gold crepe paper and foil exterior, and the gifts inside are of better quality.