The daughter of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880-1925) and his Swiss-born, part-Chilean wife, Gloria Maria Mercedes Morgan (1904-1965), little Gloria became heiress to a four million dollar trust fund on her father's death when she was 2 years old. The rights to control this trust fund while Gloria was a minor belonged to her legal guardian, and Gloria therefore became the subject of a custody battle in a famous and scandalous trial in 1934, in which testimony was heard depicting her mother as an unfit parent, charges which included Gloria Sr.'s intention to marry a German prince. A maid testified to seeing the glamorous widow Vanderbilt bathing her own feet in Champagne and gave evidence of a lesbian relationship with the marchioness of Milford Haven (née Nadjeda, Countess Torby); her mother eventually lost custody to Gloria's aunt, sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, but litigation continued.
Gloria married, in 1941, Hollywood agent Pasquale di Cicco ("Pat" di Cicco); they divorced in 1945. She married, secondly, on April 21, 1945, conductor Leopold Stokowski; they had two sons, Leopold Stanislaus (born 1950) and Christopher (born 1955); they divorced in October 1955. She married, thirdly, on August 28, 1956, director Sidney Lumet[?]; they divorced in August 1963. She married, fourthly, in 1964, author Wyatt Emory Cooper[?]; they had two sons, Carter Vanderbilt (1965-1988), and newsman Anderson Cooper[?] (born 1967).
Gloria studied art at the Art Student's League in New York City, and became known for her artwork, giving one-woman shows of oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. This artwork was adapted and licenced, starting about 1968, by Hallmark (a manufacturer of paper products) and by Bloomcraft (a textile manufacturer), and Gloria began designing specifically for linens, china, glassware and flatware. During the 1970s, Gloria licensed the use of her name on lines of fashion eyeglasses, perfume and clothing. Initially, her involvement in clothing consisted of putting her name (in place of the previous brandname, "Lucky Pierre", on a line of blouses produced by the Murjani Corporation. In 1979, Murjani proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Gloria's brand. They were very successfully marketed as "Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans". They were more tightly fitted than the other jeans of the time, with her name in script on the back pocket: Gloria appeared in a series of television ads promoting them. The designer label flourished, with the Gloria Vanderbilt logo eventually appeared on dresses and perfumes as well.
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