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Bünyamin Aydın’s new collection, “From Earth to Sky,” soars with iPad Pro
The Les Benjamins designer brought together Turkish heritage, 1970s rock ’n’ roll influences, and futurism for a landmark fashion show in Cappadocia shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max
Long before the sun rises in Cappadocia, Türkiye’s Rose Valley is already awake. Crews are on the move, models refresh their makeup, and three giant hot-air balloons — neon green, yellow, and pink — float above a landscape that looks like it belongs on Mars.
The scene is set for Les Benjamins designer Bünyamin Aydın’s most ambitious project yet. “From Earth to Sky” celebrates 15 years of the Istanbul-based lifestyle brand and brings together Anatolian heritage, avant-garde design, and the magic of iPad Pro with Apple Pencil Pro. Shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max by French filmmaker Neels Castillon, this fashion show is like no other.
The project began to take shape during a research trip to Cappadocia in early 2026. Aydın used iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro, alongside iPhone 17 Pro Max to record the extraordinary terrain, shooting photographs and 4K video at 60 fps.
Native flowers Bünyamin Aydın encountered in Cappadocia, Türkiye’s Rose Valley became the heart of his latest collection, inspiring 10 striking looks and three custom-built hot-air balloons.
Native flowers Bünyamin Aydın encountered in Cappadocia, Türkiye’s Rose Valley became the heart of his latest collection, inspiring 10 striking looks and three custom-built hot-air balloons.
Aydın’s creative process seldom takes place behind a desk, so he appreciates the flexibility iPad Pro offers with its thin, light form factor and battery life that can last him up to two days. “It’s the ultimate workstation on the go,” Aydın says. “That gives me freedom.”
Three native flowers he encountered in the region — spiky green Echinops, flutelike pink trumpets, and wild yellow tulips — became the heart of this latest collection, inspiring 10 striking looks and three custom-built hot-air balloons.
For Aydın, Les Benjamins represents the intersection of people and their cultures, and “From Earth to Sky” is no different. Born in Germany, the designer was raised with what he describes as “German discipline and Turkish heart” — a duality that runs through his work. “The canvas is the West; the paint is the East,” he says of a collection that combines contemporary silhouettes with Turkish fabrics and Silk Road influences.
iPad Pro with the powerful M5 chip became the creative nexus for the entire project. After research trips, Aydın would assemble photographs, fabric references, and early designs in the Freeform app, where evolving mood boards could be easily shared or exported to keep work ticking along. “Freeform allowed me to bring my team into my creative journey instead of simply giving them finished ideas,” he says.
The multitasking features on iPad Pro became integral as the workflows multiplied. Aydın could use its intuitive windowing system to work on an active sketch in Procreate, refer to photos from his travels, and research local flora in Safari, all while Background Tasks exported files for his collaborators.
And then there were the hot-air balloons. Working in Procreate, Aydın and his team designed a single structure as a starting point, then rapidly duplicated, altered, and redrew it until three final forms emerged from dozens of variations.
To bring the designs to life, Aydın collaborated with Pasha Balloons, one of Cappadocia’s hot-air balloon pioneers. “I would send my sketches to them, and they would use their engineering know-how to make sure they could actually fly,” he says with a smile. These technical drawings would then go straight back into Procreate for review and refinement.
Finding the right colors was vital. In addition to the electric hues of the balloons, Aydın also worked with cream, blue, and natural tones. “These are the colors of the earth and the sky,” he explains. The Ultra Retina XDR display on iPad Pro — which uses tandem OLED technology — became a key tool, while True Tone helped Aydın achieve the saturation he wanted, regardless of ambient lighting.
Apple Pencil Pro helped draw the line from idea to iterative design. “Working with regular pen and paper feels very natural, but the hover feature on Apple Pencil Pro lets me preview every stroke before I even make it, so I can see any mistakes beforehand,” he says. “It’s like a supernatural tool.”
An avid gamer, Aydın compares his relationship with Apple Pencil Pro to the muscle memory he developed while playing his favorite titles. Squeezing, double-tapping, and switching to the eraser now feel like reflexive actions, which enabled him to move quickly through variations without the tool interrupting the idea. And the low latency made the creative experience feel more immersive and responsive than ever.
“We were working on high-resolution images, creating multiple layers and playing with textures. That’s usually when things start to slow down,” he says. “But that never happened on iPad Pro. It felt just like working on a desktop.”
Back in Rose Valley, months of planning and work are finally coming to life.
Even before the sun touches the horizon, Castillon’s iPhone 18 Pro Max is already rolling. Three runways, gigantic hot-air balloons, and natural light that continues to change with every passing minute mean there is little room for error.
The new 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture allows Castillon to begin filming in low light before narrowing the aperture as the sun comes up. Camera operators use Pro controls like histogram and white balance to keep the look consistent across multiple cameras as the sky changes from pink to blue.
Working with iPhone 18 Pro Max brings the immediacy Castillon loves as a director. “When I see something beautiful, I want to film it right away,” he says. The A20 Pro chip and improved thermal management also give the production the sustained performance and reliability it needs to capture heavy 4K video throughout the event.
Just as Aydın’s show travels from past to future, movement drives Castillon’s visual treatment. Custom-built drones each carry two iPhone 18 Pro Max models, with their 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide cameras focused on enhancing the sense of vertiginous speed while fitting the massive balloons into frame.
Footage captured at 4K 120 fps allows Castillon to highlight elements like rippling fabric in cinematic slow motion, while a slower shutter speed turns quick drone passes into a painterly impressionistic motion blur.
Castillon’s treatment also creates a dreamlike, psychedelic look. He uses ProRes RAW to preserve flexibility for color grading in post-production, as Cappadocia’s pale hues meet saturated pinks, yellows, and greens. “I’m a huge nerd for color, and the tones are really accurate on iPad Pro,” he says.
While his team records video, Castillon shoots stills with the 48MP Fusion Main camera, using the new texture and grain controls in Photographic Styles 3 to bring some of the tactile character he loves in analog photography into the images.
As feeds from the whirling drones come into Castillon’s production control center, synchronizing them begins right there on location. He reviews footage and makes selections on MacBook Pro with M4 Max; its nano-texture display helps reduce glare from the sun overhead.
With the performance in full swing, Castillon’s focus switches from crane to drone to capture the opening look: a Turkish caftan and a tree branch representing Anatolia, an homage to Turkish rock icon Barış Manço. The show’s scale is huge, but Aydın believes its potential is larger still.
For him, “From Earth to Sky” is a chance to bring Turkish culture to a global audience without losing sight of its roots. “I see my role as that of a translator and a bridge between East and West,” Aydın says. “I hope this project makes Turkish people proud.”
“From Earth to Sky” was shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max. Watch it on @apple beginning October 16.
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