Although of course it cannot guarantee accuracy, Forbes’ list (read here) of the highest-earning models offers some interesting insight into the industry. The Business Model breaks down the list and analyzes the women by age, career duration, whether or not they are a person of colour, and more.
Nationality
American women came out on top with 7 of 21 models hailing from the USA — 8 if we include Puerto Rican Joan Smalls. Brazil and Britain tied in second with 3 models each. Brazil’s Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima came in at number 1 and 2, respectively. Legendary Brit Kate Moss came in at number 3.
Height
The average height of the 21 models is roughly 5’10.5″. 6’1″ Karlie Kloss is the tallest and 5’8″ Carolyn Murphy the shortest. Of course, these heights are estimates — composite cards are not known for their honesty.
Career Duration
All of the models on this list have been working in the industry for at least 5 years — Cara Delevingne and Lindsey Wixson barely making the cut-off. Over half of the women have been models for over 10 years, proving that youth may book editorial, but experience brings home the bacon.
Persons of Colour
Clockwise from top left: Liu Wen for La Perla Fall/Winter 2014 by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott; Jourdan Dunn for Express
Four of the 21 models on the list are persons of colour. While still an overwhelming minority, Adriana Lima and Liu Wen both cracked the top 3 with an estimated $8million and $7million, respectively.
While generally regarded as caucasian, Lima is of Japanese, Swiss, Native American, and African heritage; she identifies as Afro-Brazillian.
New York Representation
As most of the campaigns booked by the 21 models are for American clients, we chose to compare New York agencies. Clearly, IMG has the edge, representing 13 of the 21 women including Gisele Bundchen (1st place), and Kate Moss, Kate Upton, and Miranda Kerr, who each made an estimated $7million. DNA represents Doutzen Kroes, who came in at number 2 with an estimated $8million. The Society represents Adriana Lima, who also earned an estimated $8million.
We aren’t playing by Tokyo rules — that’s for sure; the average age of these women is 29. Kate Moss is the eldest at age 40. Carolyn Murphy is 39 and Gisele Bundchen is 34. Lindsey Wixson is the youngest to make the list at 20, but isn’t far behind 22-year-olds Kate Upton, Karlie Kloss, and Cara Delevingne.
The list reflects the immense lack of visible ethnic diversity, especially at this level of the industry where millions of dollars are at stake. It’s refreshing to see Liu Wen and Joan Smalls climbing up the list. But what’s key to understanding the make-up of this list is that it takes years of work to reach this level of visibility and pay. As advocates push for greater diversity, and we see more persons of colour and plus-size women modelling, the fruits of progress won’t ripen for some time.
With the rise of demand for plus-size models, and the slow but steady increase of jobs for models of colour, we should expect to see some interesting changes to the list in 5-10 years.
