It was an early 10 a.m. call time for attendees of Milk of Lime’s Spring/Summer 2026 show. As morning murmurs filed into Berlin’s industrial FÜRST building, guests were greeted by the spread of a countryside breakfast table on their chairs: show notes disguised as a newspaper, several little brand cards and a sachet of sugar.

For Milk of Lime’s latest collection, Julia Ballardt and Nico Verhaegen presented a love letter to the pastoral dreamer, continuing their characteristic exploration of rural aesthetics and natural matter. Titled “CHIME”, their third-ever runway show was built around the sound of soft, songlike ringing in the wind.

This inspiration was quite literal in the duo’s first look: a fringed, black halter top and skirt, adorned with dozens of tiny bells that sounded as the model walked. The gentle ringing felt both ethereal and meditative against the show’s atmospheric, white noise soundscape. Consecutive looks of all black soon followed, their monochromatism broken up by subtle variances in textures and tones. Silhouettes were light and loose-fitting, swaying with the bodies of their wearers like leaves in the wind.

But as acknowledged by Ballard and Verhaegen, nature is both parts beauty and cruelty; a system of hierarchies where one tree strangles another and plants are dipped in poison. Its dual brutality and romanticism were shown through the collection’s brooding colour palette of mysterious blacks and mossy greens. Wet-looking handbags were a nod to the elements and a motif of trailing ribbons simultaneously elongated and entrapped its wearer.

As a brand, Milk of Lime’s emphasis on the natural is more than just conceptual. Inspired by their rural surroundings in the Southwest German countryside where they’re based, Ballardt and Verhaegen attempt to capture the beating heart of the environment via the use of often deadstock or scrap materials and small-scale production that occurs close to home. Their practice is slow and considered, focused on tight-knit relationships with nearby manufacturers and artisans.

This season, they sourced vintage fabrics in an amalgamation of lace, jacquard, linen and silk textures. Disruptive spellouts met floral motifs, and a violet skirt took its deep colour from natural dye from logwood and the Scabiosa “Black Knight” flower. Alongside the recurring fishnet weave, tailored jackets were fastened with natural ornaments of sea opals, pearls, horns and troika shells.

Steeped in nature, the resulting collection was both poetic and punk. The duo’s Belgian fashion education shone through as they built on the language of iconic avant-gardists through silhouette and colour. If fashion is a game of who can scream the loudest, in its serenity, Milk of Lime cuts through the noise as a gentle whisper.