Gloria Vanderbilt, mother of Anderson Cooper and Paul McCartney song subject, dies aged 95.

Billionaire fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt has died from cancer at the age of 95.

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt. His father is her fourth husband was author, columnist and screenwriter Wyatt Cooper.

You can thank Gloria Vanderbilt for the blue jeans you are wearing today. She was responsible for making the daily work-wear fashionable.

Gloria’s first career choice was acting. She had an appearance on The Love Boat in 1981. She became a fashion model at age 17, appearing in Harper’s Bazaar. She switched to fashion design in the 1970s where she launched her Vanderbilt designer jeans with her swan logo. She sold the company in 1978. It was sold again to Jones Apparel Group in 2002. Gloria launched GV Ltd on 7th Avenue, New York, then between 1982 and 2002 she launched eight Gloria Vanderbilt fragrances through L’Oreal.

In 2001 Gloria Vanderbilt opened her first art exhibition. More recently she turned author writing two books and art and décor.

In 2016, Anderson Cooper and his mother Gloria co-authored ‘The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss’.

The Vanderbilt dynasty began with Cornelius Vanderbilt (born 1794) who built his wealth through railroads and shipping. ‘Horny Corny’ had 13 children. His eldest son William had son Cornelius Vanderbilt II whose son Reginald had a daughter Gloria who had a son Anderson (Cooper).

Paul McCartney documented the Vanderbilt dynasty in his 1973 Band on the Run song ‘Mrs Vandebilt’ (deliberately misspelt). The McCartney song based loosely based on her life.

In the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote modeled the character Holly Golightly on Gloria.

Gloria Vanderbilt died at her home in Manhattan. She was diagnosed with cancer only weeks ago.

“I knew it from the moment I was born, and I’ll know it for the rest of my life. And in the end, what greater gift can a mother give to her son?” @andersoncooper on the love that his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, had for him.

She died this morning, aged 95. https://t.co/oA5DssgM6C pic.twitter.com/wEdBfg4h6B

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 17, 2019