Lili Reinhart appears in ELLE in September 2026 in two portraits by Lenne Chai that treat the open back in completely different ways. One dress is saturated red and visually spare, while the other is pale, patterned and crossed with broad straps. The shared exposure makes the comparison immediate, but the construction around it changes substantially.
The red Lili Reinhart open-back dress has long sleeves, a high neckline and a deep opening that runs down the center of the back. From this angle, the garment is almost uninterrupted apart from that cutout. The smooth red surface and close line through the torso place all of the attention on the single vertical opening.
The pale look is far more intricate. Wide patterned straps cross diagonally across Reinhart’s back, with a bow-like folded section projecting at the side and long narrow ties hanging below. The surface carries a delicate floral motif, and the back opening is divided into smaller sections by the crossing straps rather than presented as one continuous cutout. These ELLE editorial portraits therefore use the same part of the body for two different design ideas: one severe and graphic, the other layered and decorative.
Her hair provides the main point of continuity. Reinhart wears long golden-blonde waves with a center part, and the loose lengths fall around the shoulders in both portraits. Soft pink makeup, defined lashes and glossy lips stay consistent as the dresses shift from red minimalism to pale ornament.
The Lenne Chai editorial accompanies Reinhart’s September 2026 press cycle, including attention around The Love Hypothesis, but the fashion story stands on its own because the two dresses answer the same visual problem so differently. Red relies on color and one uninterrupted opening; white relies on pattern, overlapping straps and tied construction. The contrast is strongest at the back, where each dress reveals its character before the rest of the silhouette is even visible.