The pages of Olivier Theyskens printed issue of NºD carry an unusual addition in the top corner – a small rectangular frame that extends from the cover through to the very last page. When ‘flipped’ from the back to the front, the frame comes alive as an animated love story by Belgian animator Nicolas Dufranne.

Nicolas’ story begins with the birds and ends with the birds, but in between tells the tragic story of two young lovers and their demise, as one feeds off the other. A girl appears from behind a tree to find her lover dead on the ground, and as the birds pass by, kisses him to revive his energy. As their lips touch he wakes, and she falls white to the ground – having surrendered her last breath to save him.

For our online release, Nicholas has produced an exclusive digital version of his story, recreating the ‘flipbook’ feeling to recapture the original effect of his work. Watch below as the lovers exchange their dying breaths, in this calamitous tale of fateful mortality.