Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper at 1stDibs gallery. (Patrick McMullan)

While Fashion Week was winding down at Lincoln Center Wednesday night, Diane von Furstenberg was sequestered on the 10th floor of a nondescript Lexington Avenue building. Across the giant storeroom of the mostly digital antique dealer 1stDibs, Patrick McMullan was snapping Bill Cunningham as he took a picture of a small watercolor on the wall. Nearby, Anderson Cooper hovered around his mother, who, in a stunning red kimono, greeted guests to her first solo art show since 2001.

While most people might associate Gloria Vanderbilt with her fashion prowess--her jeans commercials in the ’80s helped define a culture of denim, after all--she demurred at any questions about the fashion world that was teeming nearby. "My work involves all my time," she told The Observer, referring to her current exhibition, "The World of Gloria Vanderbilt: Collages, Dream Boxes, and Recent Paintings." With images that included a doll on a crucifix alongside bright, whimsical portraits of Angelina Jolie and Joyce Carol Oates, "The World" is open to the public starting today, and will be going till mid-October. Proceeds from donations will be going to the Huntsville Museum in Huntsville, Ala., where New York Magazine’s Wendy Goodman (also in attendance that evening) held a party for the release of her biography, The World of Gloria Vanderbilt.

"We wanted to do something nice for the Huntsville Museum in return for their warm hospitality," she said. "And what better way than suggesting the opening of my show be a benefit for the museum?" She also praised 1stDibs founder and president Michael Bruno for his attention to detail while organizing the event.

Mr. Bruno was equally deferential. "Gloria has always been very forward-thinking," he said of the 88-year-old heiress. "Ever since I went to her studios to see her paintings, I've been obsessed."

And he had put his money where his mouth was, purchasing one of Ms. Vanderbilt's paintings himself: a large, brightly colored piece called Tenacity that hung near the center of the room.

On the way out, The Observer ran into Joyce Carol Oates by the elevators. We inquired if the author had seen Ms. Vanderbilt's painting of her.

She shot back, "You mean there's only one?"

Condé Nast spokeswoman Maurie Perl said the search is only just beginning now. But who will Si Newhouse and Tom Wallace speak to about the job?

The magazine has been struggling, and they need someone to breathe some new life into it.

Here is The Observer's short list of top candidates for the job:

Paul Goldberger

Pros: He knows architecture! He's the architecture critic for The New Yorker; he used to be the dean of Parsons; and he's got a Pulitzer Prize. Above all, we hear he's very close to Victoria Newhouse, Si's wife, who is an architectural historian and very connected to the community. Mrs. Newhouse's vote is probably going to count for a lot in this case.

Cons: There's a question how much he knows about selling a magazine, and how much he knows about decorating. He's wonky, yes, but mostly for architecture.

Margaret Russell

Pros: She has a built a very nice little magazine at Elle Decor. She's young and fresh. Her magazine is very product-focused and very advertiser-friendly. She's definitely one of the hottest talents in shelter today.

Cons: Elle Decor is a very New York–L.A. magazine. The interiors inside Elle Decor are hip and the magazine is very fashiony, but it's not nearly broad enough for a magazine like AD. Ms. Russell would have to prove she can create a new magazine.

Ilse Crawford

Pros: She's a designer and was the founding editor of British Elle Decor. She has an extremely good reputation and is considered a design guru across the pond.

Cons: She's relatively unknown here, and any potential Europeoan import that Mr. Newhouse and Mr. Wallace consider will have to learn about interiors in the U.S.—the learning curve can be steep.

Deborah Needleman

Pros: As the former editor of the now nonexistent Domino, she developed a fun and approachable shelter magazine. It appealed to a very big group people, and it was deeply mourned after it died.

Cons: She's cooking up a project with Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer now, and who knows if she wants to return to 4 Times Square? Also, insiders tell us that she doesn't have the best connections within the design community.

Dark Horses

Pilar Viladas, design editor at The Times Magazine: She's very well respected in the architecture community, but a little less well known within the design community, said one shelter magazine source.

Wendy Goodman, interior design editor at New York: She used to work at House & Garden, and Adam Moss scooped her up after Si Newhouse shut down that title in 2007. She knows people, too.

Suzanne Slesin: A former editor at House & Garden as well, along with being a Home editor at The Times, she's a star design writer.