Fashion Icon Of 70s, Gloria Vanderbilt Dies At The Age Of 95

Known as the jeans queen, the fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt died at the age of 95 this Monday. Her son Anderson Cooper, the CNN journalist, in a broadcast, confirmed her death. She was an alluring fashion diva during the 1970s. “Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life and lived it on her own terms,” Cooper said in a statement. She, at the same time, was an artist, author, actress, fashion model, designer, creative force, philanthropist and socialite.

The heiress who lived on her own terms

Vanderbilt married four times and was divorced three times. She was not afraid to speak against any wrong. In the 1980s, she accused her lawyer and her former partners of fraud and went on to attend a lengthy trial, which finally served her justice. She won and was awarded $1.7 Million, the money, however, was never recovered.

Her swan logo came to India too when Indian Designer Mohan Murjani's Murjani Corporation proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt's signature embroidered on the back pocket, as well as her swan logo.

Journey from fashion model to fashion designer

She was also a top international fashion model. At the age of 17, she appeared in Harper's Bazar and was the public face of her clothing and fragrance lines. She has also been a popular subject for photographers throughout her entire life. Thereafter, in the 70s, she started her fashion venture, first with Glentex. Her swan logo came to India too when Indian Designer Mohan Murjani's Murjani Corporation proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt's signature embroidered on the back pocket, as well as her swan logo. What was special about her jeans was that it was more tightly fitted than other jeans at that time.

She started her first art exhibition “Dream Boxes” in 2001 at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. The exhibition was a critical success. She started another exhibition in 2007, which featured 35 paintings at the Arts Centre itself. Interestingly, she returned to the Arts center after two years, this time as a panelist at its Annual Fall Show exhibition. That was the time when she also signed copies of her novel- Obsession: An Erotic Tale.

HBO premiered ‘Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper’ on April 9, 2016. This is a two-hour documentary that featured the conversation between the motherand the son.

Nothing left unsaid

HBO premiered ‘Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper’ on April 9, 2016. This is a two-hour documentary that featured the conversation between the mother and the son. It also covered Vanderbilt's storied life and family history on a whole.

Literary work

As of late May 2016, apart from being a regular contributor to the New York Times, Vanity Fairand Elle, she had written two books on art and home decor, three novels and four volumes of memoirs. In November 2010, she was the subject of a book covering her whole life. The book was titled The World Of Gloria Vanderbilt. The book also featured many previously unreleased photographs. Another one in the mother-son duo collection was the book The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss. The book was described by its publisher as: “A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offering timeless wisdom and a revealing glimpse into their lives.”

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