Apple chairman Tim Cook visited Istanbul on Sunday, 8 November, touring the Grand Bazaar and attending a design event at the company’s Bağdat Avenue store. According to NTV, the store event explored how Turkish fashion brand Les Benjamins uses Apple technologies to develop its collections.
Examples featured in the report include designs developed with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro, and footage of the fashion show shot using iPhone 18 Pro Max. These represent two distinct stages of production: creating the collection and recording its presentation.
According to NTV, Apple shared details of the production process behind “From Earth to Sky,” a collection marking Les Benjamins’ 15th anniversary, in a statement published on 14 October. The Istanbul event also explored the preparations behind that collection.
Inspired by Anatolian culture, 1970s rock music and futuristic design, the collection had been unveiled at a fashion show in Cappadocia’s Güllüdere Valley. Aydın’s digitally developed designs included three specially designed hot-air balloons. French director Neels Castillon filmed the show. Cook made the Istanbul visit as Apple’s chairman, not its CEO. According to NTV’s report on the leadership change, Cook handed over the CEO role to John Ternus as of 1 September 2026 and became chairman.
The leadership change at the US-based company ended Cook’s tenure as CEO, which began in 2011 when he succeeded Steve Jobs. The Istanbul visit took place after that transition.
Cook shared footage filmed with Cem Başak at the Grand Bazaar on his X account, greeting Istanbul and expressing his happiness at visiting Türkiye. Cook attended the “From Earth to Sky” (“From the Ground to the Sky”) event, which Les Benjamins founder Bünyamin Aydın also attended. The event explored preparations for the collection’s fashion show and the use of Apple technologies in the design process.
Highlights of the visit
What does the visit highlight for designers and content creators?
The Les Benjamins collection’s connection to Cappadocia
Cook visited as Apple’s chairman
Questions about the visit
What did Tim Cook say in his Istanbul post?
What was the event on Bağdat Avenue called?