Applications close 12th January 2026

SPRING ISSUE: Traditions & Techniques in Lace

Going to print early May.

Scholars generally agree that lace, as we know it today, first took shape in the early sixteenth century. From the beginning, it carried the aura of luxury — fragile, precious and born of painstaking hours. Once the purview of the needle and bobbin, now whether knitted or crocheted, its material language has expanded to include rope, wire and even reclaimed plastics. No longer confined to ornament, lace has become a site of exploration: artists stretch its once-delicate architecture into sweeping, monumental forms or tease out new meanings through the interplay of positive and negative space. This issue celebrates both the history of lace and the ever-growing possibilities for contemporary application.

Proposal Requirements include:

• Abstract: 500 words max, Word document

• 4-6 representative images, jpg, tiff, or png format

• Completed submission form

All submissions must be original, and exclusive to Surface Design Journal.

Visit the Surface Design Association website to read the full list of proposal guidelines and conditions, and to find the online submission form. You can also follow them on Instagram.