One of the questions that often appears in some informal conversations I have with people who are not in the world of photography and fashion have to do with how much a professional model wins. It’s a question that has a similar answer to if you were asked how much a professional athlete earns. Depends on the category. There are models and footballers who earn absolutely nothing and perform their activity for reasons other than money. Sometimes because they are in shape, sometimes because they like to show off or because they think that at the beginning of their career they can not ask for money because they do not contribute too much to generate money.
How much do models earn?
In any case, there is a huge variability between what a semi-professional or professional model charges for a catwaik, which can be between 50 and 300 € and the fantastic figures that move some stars. Figures that can make you dizzy. An example: Naomi Campbell won in 2013 about 49 million dollars. This is not a common trend, but Gisele Bundchen made in 2007 about 33 million dollars and Kate Moss, that same year, hardly 9. Miranda Kerr usually does, to put another example, around 7 million dollars to the year.
If we look at 2016, the list of the best paid stands out much more to -again- Gisele Budchen, but probably because she includes her income in businesses in which it she has participated and actively invested. In this case, the figures are in sterling pounds, because my source is – I’m sorry – the Daily Mirror.
Top 7 in 2016
Gisele Bundchen, 308 million pounds.
Adriana Lima, 8.1 million pounds.
Karlie Kloss, 7.8 million pounds.
Kendall Jenner, 7.7 million pounds.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 6.9 million pounds.
Gigi Hadid, 6.9 million pounds.
Cara Delevigne, 6.9 million pounds.
It’s not just the catwalk
However, today, the most important part of the income is obtained in publicity campaigns, being the image of the top brands or attending events. From there, it is difficult to define what a “professional model” is. Some girls – and guys – who have not posed for any publication, but have a lot of followers in social networks like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, with profiles in many Similar to a model, earn comparable figures. Kendall Jenner has an important part of her income, for example, for that reason. She gets between $ 125,000 and $ 300,000 for every Instagram post. From there, of course, you have to pay expenses like professional photography, makeup, public relations and others. In spite of everything it is evident that it is a good business.
So determining how much a professional model earns is extremely complex if it is not defined before we speak. It is not standardized work such as a local police or air traffic controller. The figures of what is charged per day of work – by a normal model – can be misleading: not every day there is a catwalk, and yet you have to go to the gym, stay in shape and invest money to stay wonderful .
In any case, I am not a model, I am a professional photographer. If you need a portfolio to make a name for yourself into the wonderful world of professional models, that would be the first step you should take. My email is sergi@archerphoto.eu . My phone, with Whatsapp included is +34 644459753.