The World’s Highest-Paid Models 2014

Kate Upton is the highest-ranked newcomer with an estimated $7 million in annual earnings, thanks to a lucrative Bobbi Brown signing and Express clothing line deal. Upton shot to fame after a video of her performing a popular dance known as the “Dougie” at a sports game went viral; she has since landed campaigns for Sam Edelman, David Yurman and Accessorize. (Upton is just one of five models ranked who has not been a Victoria’s Secret Angel.)

The highest-paid models list tracks pretax earnings for all models who make the majority of their income modelling, rather than acting or singing. To form the list, we looked at income from cosmetics and fragrance contracts, advertising, endorsements and other ventures. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are tabulated from June 2013 to June 2014 and based on interviews with numerous managers, agents and brand executives.

Miranda Kerr and Liu Wen also pulled in $7 million in the last 12 months, just ahead of Alessandra Ambrosio and Hilary Rhoda, who both made $5 million in the last year. The 21 models on the list made a combined $142 million.

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Bundchen, who boasts 2.7 million Instagram followers, has earned $386 million from modelling since 2001. Still, her highly-paid cohort are very much the minority – according to the New York labor department statistics on model earnings, the mean annual salary is $43,570. As sociologist Ashley Mears points out in “Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model,” models are rarely paid for editorial shoots or catwalk appearances. Similarly, gigs with prestigious names like Chanel or Fendi don’t pay much, but their high fashion cachet lets models cash in with other campaigns gained from the exposure.

Still, the perceived glamour of modeling continues to attract a never-ending stream of hopefuls. Moss and Miranda, watch your back: among the likely new additions to the highest-paid list are Fei Fei Sun and Kendall Jenner, whose 12 million-strong Instagram following propelled her to a Givenchy campaign.

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