Phillip Picardi

Phillip Picardi is the editor-in-chief of Out Magazine.

Previously, Picardi served as the digital editorial director for Teen Vogue and Allure, both Condé Nast publications. He started his publishing career as an intern at Teen Vogue. He then served as online beauty editor at Teen Vogue before becoming senior beauty editor at Refinery29 in September 2014. At Refinery29, he worked for Mikki Halpin, whose influence, as well as Picardi's personal experiences, led to a growing interest in political engagement alongside his work on beauty.

Picardi returned to Teen Vogue as digital editorial director in April 2015, where under his leadership, the magazine's digital audience grew from 2 million to over 12 million unique visitors per month. The next year, he became part of a reorganization of the magazine's leadership with editor Elaine Welteroth and creative director Marie Suter, replacing departing founding editor-in-chief Amy Astley. Picardi oversaw web content and social media for Teen Vogue, significantly increasing traffic to its website. In January 2017, the magazine's website had 7.9 million US visitors compared with 2.9 million the previous January. He has also been part of the magazine's shift in focus on social issues and politics, part of his pitch when he joined the magazine.

In March 2017, his role at Condé Nast expanded to become digital editorial director for Allure as well as Teen Vogue. Under Picardi's leadership, Allure also saw a significant rise in web traffic: April 2017 had a 53% increase over the prior year (6.9 million over 4.5 million in April 2016). At Allure, he launched the initiative "The End of Anti-Aging," challenging industry norms around aging. Picardi also launched them, a community-driven platform for LGBTQ+ youth and rebranded and relaunched Out Magazine, which significantly impacted the queer and trans community. His innovative approaches have garnered multiple awards including Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People, a GLAAD Award, and the AdWeek Hot List.

Additionally, Picardi has contributed to campaigns for major brands such as Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Lego, Burberry, and Nike. He recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School, where he was part of the inaugural Masters of Religion and Public Life program. Picardi hosts the podcast 'Unholier Than Thou' and writes the Substack newsletter 'Religiously Blonde.' He is currently working on his forthcoming memoir based on his thesis, "Is Jesus Kinda Hot?"