Deborah Needleman

Early life

Needleman grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and graduated from George Washington University where she studied philosophy and art history.

Career

Needleman worked as a photographer's assistant for a freelance photographer before becoming the photo editor at The Washington Post Sunday magazine. She wrote about gardens and design for The New York Times, Slate, and House & Garden, where she was editor-at-large, before becoming a magazine editor.

T Magazine

Deborah Needleman was named editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine in September 2012.

The first issue of T under Deborah Needleman in March 2013 featured Lee Radziwill on the cover, for which she and Sofia Coppola produced a short film. As part of the 10th Anniversary issue of T in October 2014, the magazine ran 10 different covers and the website looked back on some of T's most memorable covers.

The magazine under her tenure was known for an intelligent and eclectic mix of subject matter, for its financial turn around.

One of her last issues in October 2016 was themed 'The Greats' and had 7 different covers featuring people transforming culture in a unique way: Michelle Obama, Zadie Smith, William Eggleston, Kerry James Marshall, Junya Watanabe, Lady Gaga and Massimo Bottura. To celebrate the issue, the magazine held a salon-like dinner party at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan where the honorees and guests could converse in an intimate way without many of the usual distractions of organized 'events', such as a red carpet, social media bloggers, or outside press coverage. The writer Zadie Smith sang jazz standards, accompanied by the Carlyle's pianist, during cocktails in Bemelman's Bar, the renowned chef Massimo Bottura created a special menu and served the meal, the artist Kerry James Marshall spoke about his work, and after dinner, Lady Gaga performed a new song at the piano, 'Fallen Angel' written in honor of Trayvon Martin.

In November 2016, T launched its first Virtual Reality film, executive produced by Needleman and directed by the Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (I am Love; A Bigger Splash) on the working process of artist Rob Pruitt, the first in a series titled 'The Creators'.

WSJ

In 2010, Needleman was hired as a consultant by the Wall Street Journal to create a prototype for a weekly lifestyle section as part of the paper's ambition to broaden their scope, from a weekday business paper to a more general interest publication, and their base, in to include more women. The section she created called 'Off Duty' which publishes on Saturdays, covers fashion, tech, design, and food. The name was suggested by her husband. While launching the section for the paper, in 2010, Needleman agreed to become the editor in chief of WSJ. magazine, the paper's then quarterly glossy magazine. Needleman overhauled the magazine redesigning it and its features, and under her direction, WSJ. became a successful and well-regarded monthly publication. She created and launched the Wall Street Journal's annual Innovators Awards, a special issue and dinner ceremony held at the Museum of Modern Art. Honorees have included Elon Musk, Bjarke Ingels, Miuccia Prada, Ai Weiwei (in absentia) and Tom Sachs. In 2012, Needleman was hired by the New York Times to become editor in chief of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, which was ailing at the time.

domino

Launched by Condé Nast Publications in Spring 2005, domino was a style magazine centered on the home. In its first year, domino was honored with every media award for the best new magazine, including The Hot List Startup of the Year by Adweek, Top Launch of the Year by Media Industry Newsletter and The A-List 10 under 50 by Advertising Age. Needleman was named as a Top Talent to Watch from Women’s Wear Daily and a Circle of Excellence award winner by the International Furniture and Design Association (IFDA). In its third year, the magazine has grown to a rate base of 800K. The magazine received two 2008 National Magazine Award nominations from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). In October 2008, domino released its first book, domino: the book of decorating, published by Simon & Schuster.

It was announced on 28 January 2009, that Conde Nast would cease publishing domino, which at that point was delivering over 1 million paid subscriptions a month, and that Needleman had left the company. The New York Times published a story about the 'mourners' decrying the magazine's demise. Condé Nast has since tried to revive the title.

Personal

Needleman lives in Manhattan with her husband, Slate chairman Jacob Weisberg, their two children. She is the author of The Perfectly Imperfect Home, an illustrated treatise on decorating in a style that allows for the vagaries of life and is welcoming, rather than picture perfect. She is on the board of the National Book Foundation.