Hollywood Mourns The Loss of Gloria Vanderbilt

Gloria Vanderbilt died at age 95, her son CNN anchor Anderson Cooper revealed Monday. Cooper said his mother had gone to the doctor recently and discovered she had “very advanced cancer in her stomach that had spread.” The former model, painter, designer and writer was remembered on social media as an “incredible” woman and "innovator."

"Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life, and lived it on her own terms," Cooper said in a statement. "She was a painter, a writer, and designer but also a remarkable mother, wife, and friend. She was 95 years old, but ask anyone close to her, and they'd tell you, she was the youngest person they knew, the coolest, and most modern."

Hollywood celebrities took to Twitter to express grief and condolences. Comedian and actress Loni Love recalled how she had worked to save up money to buy a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, "She made me look fly!!!"

Actor and comedian Mario Cantone offered his "deepest condolences" to the family. "There will never be another like her. Iconic. Historic. Amazing," he wrote on Twitter.

Actress Alyssa Milano called Cooper’s eulogy to his mother “beautiful.” She went on to call Vanderbilt an “incredible woman.” Model and actress Carol Alt tweeted that she'll miss the "fashion icon and innovator."

Gloria was born a millionaire on February 20, 1924, with a $2.5 million trust fund, equivalent to $35 million today. As a businesswoman, Gloria had careers as an artist, a model, a playwright and an actress. It was in the 1970s that Gloria made her own money, with a fashion line of denim jeans with her trademark white swan logo that she herself modelled in now-iconic advertisements and went on to sell millions of pairs of jeans. Vanderbilt partnered with Mohan Murjani, who introduced a $1 million advertising campaign in 1978 that turned the Gloria Vanderbilt brand into a sensation.

In more recent years, Vanderbilt has been best recognised for exhibits of her art and for her writing, which includes books on art and home decor, four volumes of memoirs and three novels, such as "Obsession: An Erotic Tale."