Newly appointed T Magazine editor Deborah Needleman is settling into her office at The New York Times, and she's bringing some of her old staff at WSJ. with her.
Sources have confirmed to WWD that WSJ.'s creative director Patrick Li and fashion features director Whitney Vargas will join Needleman at T. Whether they will replace the magazine's current features director Jacob Brown and creative director David Sebbah remains to be seen.
Needleman had also reportedly been negotiating with the Times about her role before Sally Singer packed up her desk. Among her demands for the job were for T to have its own publisher, for printing of the magazine to be scaled back from 15 issues a year to 12, and to stop doing themed issues in favor of general interest issues that cover fashion and a range of other topics.
A spokeswoman for the Times wouldn't comment on these requests or the prospective new hires.
"It's her second day and she's focused on getting herself settled here. She's not ready to talk to the press and likely won't be for a while," the spokeswoman said. "Similarly, it's too early to talk about who might stay, who might go, who might join."
Be that as it may, Needleman told Daily Front Row before the Chanel show that she already has her first cover idea in the works — she's just keeping it a surprise.
>> It doesn't appear that Sally Singer will be pillaging the ranks of Vogue — or even Conde Nast, for that matter — when it comes to stocking her team at T. She 