PYRE from SL Films on Vimeo.

We’ve already declared our love for Holy Voids creator Ariel Fan’s witchy ensembles by naming her our Emerging Designer of 2019. Now the young designer is further branching out her dark aesthetic with short film collaborations. Fan and the duo of Sam Lingle and Zack Packard at SL Films banded together to create Pyre, debuting this week.

Lingle's background in directing music videos and Packard’s in advertising seems to be an excellent combination into creating a short, arty film that highlights Fan’s collection. In six months, the two brands have managed to pump out two films already (Holy Voids I and Holy Voids II) with Pyre being their third collaboration, each equally moody and fashion centric. In Pyre, the focus ominously swirls around red clad women moving slowly while another team in black looks on. A single woman is tied to a pillar calling to mind burning witches at the stake. It’s an impressive amount of imagery in under a minute.

“We tended to go back and forth using the setting and the clothing for inspiration. Sam and Zack took the reins on the creative direction, but really considered Holy Voids ethos and brand while creating the story around the garments. It's always about the feeling you get when you watch the film. I think we all are drawn to the mood,“ Fan says via email about the process coming together. “The styling started with the red palette, and the idea of a sea of red flowing fabric. I had already thought up the idea of an aerial view of a sea of people spinning in the so-called sea in a dream. We eventually spoke about a timeless era as our biggest inspiration, not like retro futurism, but more like Inception—contemporary retro.”