Fashion
Vanderbilt began her career as a fashion model when she was 15 years old, appearing in Harper's Bazaar.
During the 1970s, Vanderbilt ventured into the fashion business itself, first with Glentex, licensing her name and a collection of her paintings for a line of scarves. In 1976, 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. Her jeans were more tightly fitted than other jeans of that time and were an immediate success with customers.
In 1978, Vanderbilt sold the rights to her name to the Murjani Group and relaunched her own company, GV Ltd, which she had founded in 1976. With her company, she launched dresses, blouses, sheets, shoes, leather goods, liqueurs, and accessories. In the period from 1982 to 2002, L'Oreal launched eight fragrances under the brand name Gloria Vanderbilt. Murjani sold rights to the name Gloria Vanderbilt to the owners of Gitano Group Inc. in 1988.
Jones Apparel Group acquired the rights to Gloria Vanderbilt jeans in 2002.
Gloria Vanderbilt herself became an icon thanks to the numerous portrait shots.
Among the famous photographers were Cecil Beaton, Gordon Parks, Horst P. Horst, Gianni Penat, Jeff Riedel,
Paul Schutzer, Thomas Iannaccone, Ron Galella and Jack Robinson.
In the 1980s, Vanderbilt accused her former partners in GV Ltd. and her lawyer of fraud. After a lengthy trial (during which time the lawyer died), Vanderbilt won and was awarded nearly $1.7 million, but the money was never recovered.
She was also awarded $300,000 by the New York City Bar Association. Vanderbilt also owed millions of dollars in back taxes, since the lawyer had never paid the IRS, and she was forced to sell her Southampton, New York, and Upper East Side homes.
The brand's current parent company Nine West Holdings filed for bankruptcy in 2018.