Les Benjamins takes fashion to the sky with iPad-designed hot air balloons

A fashion designer used an iPad Pro to create flying hot-air balloons inspired by flowers, then made them part of his runway show.

Les Benjamins designer Bunyamin Aydin used an iPad Pro to develop a fashion show staged beneath custom hot-air balloons in Turkiye. Apple's latest creative profile follows the project from early sketches to a fashion show shot on iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The production, "From Earth to Sky", marks the Istanbul-based brand's 15th anniversary, with 10 looks influenced by native flowers in Turkiye's Cappadocia region. Green Echinops, pink trumpet flowers, and yellow tulips inspired the clothing and three balloons above the region's Rose Valley.

Aydin took photographs and video during research trips, then organized fabric references and early designs in Freeform on an M5 iPad Pro.

"Freeform allowed me to bring my team into my creative journey instead of simply giving them finished ideas," Aydin noted.

Using Procreate and Apple Pencil Pro, he sketched while keeping reference images and research open alongside his work.

"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 said. "It's like a supernatural tool."

The balloons required collaboration with Cappadocia's own Pasha Balloons, which assessed whether the proposed shapes could fly. The balloon team then sent technical drawings back to Aydin for refinement.

French filmmaker Neels Castillon documented the show using an iPhone 18 Pro Max, including phones mounted on custom drones. The production used 4K footage at 120 frames per second for slow motion and ProRes RAW for color grading.

Castillon reviewed footage on an M4 Max MacBook Pro while filming continued on location. The finished film brings together contemporary silhouettes, Turkish fabrics, and Silk Road influences, and debuts on Apple's Instagram account on October 16.