Millionaire, creative tour-de-force, and celebrity mother Gloria Vanderbilt has passed away at age 95. Her son Anderson cooper confirmed her death with an on-air obituary this morning.
Vanderbilt is famed for being the subject of a wild 1930's child custody trial, one of the last 'golden age' millionaires, and as an early inventor of designer jeans.
Born to equestrian Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and the great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Gloria became and heiress to the Vanderbilt fortune of millions shortly into her childhood, after her father unexpectedly passed away.
In 1934, her paternal aunt fought her mother in a very public custody court case, through which the press dubbed her "poor little rich girl."
Aside from her marriages that mostly ended in tragedy she was rumored to have been with Gordon Parks, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, and writer Roald Dahl.
Her swan logo first appeared on tight fitting designer jeans, but quickly spread to perfume, linens, shoes, leather goods, and liqueurs. She is hailed as one of the first designers to make public appearances to promote her work.
"Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life, and lived it on her own terms," Cooper said this morning, "She was a painter, a writer, and designer but also a remarkable mother, wife, and friend."
Cooper referred to his late mother as "the coolest and most modern person."
"She was 95 years old, but ask anyone close to her, and they'd tell you, she was the youngest person they knew."
h/t: USA Today
