How Much Can an AVERAGE Model Expect to Get Paid? (PLEASE READ POST #1 BEFORE POSTING)

[kasper!]

Sorry I'm asking this before going through the whole thread...In the ed like this one,there are 10 models,usually how much does each model get?..and does female model get more paid than the male model?

 

[romydomy]

How much does a model get paid if they walk the vs show but they are'nt an angel

 

[williscrazy]

After reading these, since female models that start out does not pay so well already, how about male models?

 

[heelscatchfire]

I'm pretty sure male models make even less money then female models.

 

[cologne_rocks]

They do not even make the half on the money that female models earn. Another problem for male models is that there are less possibilities to make "real" money as there aren't so many brands who advertise with male models and if they do, they tend to either use Simon Nessman or Lars Burmeister

 

[williscrazy]

ouch:|
So even models like Mathias L, Noah Mills, etc... doesn't make that much at all?
wow, I guess they need another job at the same time then

 

[Riseup]

Well, i know non V.S angels or "Icon" models(Kate, Angela, Naomi) who are making about US$50,000 per day of work...modeling it's still very generous with the incomes...lol

 

[candlebougie]

After reading this thread I suppose these numbers for Catherine Mcneil are "slightly" inflated.

McNeil is one of Australia's top modelling earners, commanding up to $12,000 for a catwalk appearance and a six figure amount for top international designer advertising campaigns.

dailytelegraph.com.au

 

[williscrazy]

^ now it might be possible, since she has state her status already, but who knows the exact information..

I want to know who the highest paid male model is..lol but I guess they don't have that information yet.

 

[Hemmy]

so how is it that so many young models are spotted with nice clothes?
they get paid with clothes instead of money?

 

[agee]

Well, i know non V.S angels or "Icon" models(Kate, Angela, Naomi) who are making about US$50,000 per day of work...modeling it's still very generous with the incomes...lol

What kind of work is the model doing for US$50,000 per day? a campaign (which makes sense and may even be kinda piddly considering that models need campaigns to support them unless the shoot takes several days)? a catalog shoot? fit modeling for a designer? showroom work?

I think that you are making an important point and that is that modeling can be lucrative and while there are models who never make big money and go in debt, there are models in their early twenties who have purchased million dollar homes. Karlie isn't even 18 and wasn't it reported that she bought a place in New York? Now I have been one of the ones who have banged the drum loudly about model pay or the lack thereof, but really it is more about what kind of work the model is doing. I have yelled at my computer screen on more than one occasion when I read a comment like, "Oh her latest pictures were for catalog X, I really like her and I am really sad that her modeling career may be ending [reading between the lines, they mean high fashion modeling career]." I am yelling at my computer, "working for H&M, Neiman-Marcus or VS is why that model is still going to be on IMG's board next year and the model who shot a couple of Meisel eds and opened the McQueen show is not!"

Regarding the discussion about runway pay, of course there are exceptions, but the big designers do pay the major models to walk in their shows and I think they get paid quite well, I stated in a previous post $5,000 - 10,000 per show if you are a MDC Top 20 model, which squares with the Cat McNeil figure (again I know there are exceptions). Think about it, the runway season lasts 4-6 weeks twice a year, that is two to three months and if the model has to travel to the fashion capitals and then run up a bunch of bills while she's there: hotel bills, getting to and from the various venues, smoking and eating (well maybe not eating), etc. If they are not getting paid and paid well, then I doubt that models at Natasha, Freja and Anja's level would be devoting as much time they do to runway, instead they would be off doing catalog shoots and only do special requests for designers that they have a close relationship with and / or the ones that they think they may get a campaign from, in their cases models at their level are probably getting both money and the designer may throw in a goodie or two as a bonus.

So runway can be lucrative if you have the status and experience to get $5,000 - 10,000 per show and then rack up a lot of shows per season (40+), based on my assumption laden calculation, an established and in-demand runway model can probably get $750,000* a year from her runway work alone - note that there are not too many in that group - Anja, Iris, Freja, Natasha, Abbey, Tao (maybe, but isn't she kinda newish?), Vlada (I think that she still books a lot of shows). Also bear in mind a model's agency gets a cut and she also has to cover all her expenses. (*Calculation Note: I took $7500 (the midpoint between $5,000 - 10,000 ) and multiplied it times 100 (assumes that she walks 50 shows per season).

The bottom line is that many top models get paid well, especially if they have tapped into the commercial / catalog workstream. I am willing to bet that Sasha and Anja are probably getting paid more for their work with Gap and H&M than their work with Prada and Lanvin.

 

[bothsidesnow]

Regarding the discussion about runway pay, of course there are exceptions, but the big designers do pay the major models to walk in their shows and I think they get paid quite well, I stated in a previous post $5,000 - 10,000 per show if you are a MDC Top 20 model, which squares with the Cat McNeil figure (again I know there are exceptions).

haha.. if that were true, MDC would have 80 girls crammed into their Top 20 instead of the current 35!

 

[williscrazy]

I guess it's not so much only about the MDC ranking, if the girl's status is somehow set in the industry, then she can earn a fortune, there are models who aren't on the chart that still earns a lot definitely.

 

[agee]

haha.. if that were true, MDC would have 80 girls crammed into their Top 20 instead of the current 35!

I don't understand, what does that figure (whether you agree with it or not) have to do with the stuffing that goes on in the MDC ranking? The reason I even brought up the MDC ranking was to give an idea of the level of model that goes with that figure so that no one was thinking it applied to newbie models or unknown / lesser known models.

 

[evenodd]

I have been modeling now since about 18 (im 22 now) and this is generally how it went for me:
Asia (depending who you're with, i was with Apple Model Managment) will pay for your flight out there, your apartment (which you share with up for 6 girls depending the size of the rooms), and they give you an ''allowence'' which is just them giving you cash to buy food and pay for cabs. However you do have to pay them back in full. I was there for about 3 months worked 3-4 times a week but never saw any money. The girls who did make money booked commercial jobs either TV or catalouges or hair ads (which paid big if they wanted you to dye your hair). Ontop of whatever you made there, your agency at home usually takes a cut. So in Bangkok it was 40% the agency and 30% my mother agency. So only 30% of what i really made went to pay off any debt.
When i left asia i was in debt, but they didnt (at least for me) make me pay it back.

Europe: You pay for everything, Paris takes 70% of your check, Athens took 50%. Both agencies i was with still gave an allowence and still covered room and board however you still had to pay them back. I was in Europe (between Paris and Athens) for 2 months and made some money but in the end the agencies never ended up paying me a thing.

I live in Winnipeg, which isnt a huge city like Toronto. Work here is usually once to twice a month but i have gotten paid anywhere between 600-750$ for jobs and the new agency i am with doesnt take a big cut.

Models who aren't big dont make anything. Most of the girls ive met do it just for the experiances traveling, and after a while stop traveling due to school or just the lack of money. A good friend of mine spent almost a year in Asia and made nothing. He just recently switched to a bigger agency and after spending 6 months in Milan and Spain only pulled in 5000$ or so of profit.

I personally have come to the conclusion that if you want to make a good living in the modeling industry (and by that i mean you can live comfortably on what you make) you need to be discovered by someone at a good agency.

 

[bothsidesnow]

Thanks for that evenodd. Some of those commissions sound very high - I know in Paris the agency will usually deduct social security contributions and income tax, so their actual take should be a lot less than 70%. The double commission in Bangkok sounds very odd...

 

[sybil300]

After reading these, since female models that start out does not pay so well already, how about male models?

I'm curious about male models too. I read somewhere that Gabriel Aubry, one of the highest paid male models, makes $700,000 a year. That's a huge pay difference from the women. Does that mean even the highest paying male models don't crack 1mil a year. Adding credence to this, Forbes recently wrote that most top male models max out at $500,000 a year. What do editorial, campaign and runway favorites like Bastiaan Ninabar, Simon Nessman, or Mathias Bergh make? Is there any way to estimate what these men might make annually?

 

[cologne_rocks]

Male Models have rather the problem that their market offers way less job opportunities than the women's markets. They earn approximately 1/3 of the money a female model would get depending on reputation of the model. Additionally, 80% of the male models do nothing except fashion week and here and there a lookbook or catalogue. It's really not lucrative, no even commercially....

 

[williscrazy]

Thanks Sybil300, I just went and read the Forbes article; I guess the fact that the limited amount of magazine covers somehow affects they publicity exposure as well; since they barely get onto any mainstream magazine covers, doubtfully would anyone even notice them. If so, then they must have some part-time jobs so they can still maintain to live I believe.

Talking about that, I wonder who would be Forbe's top male model of the year, I sense Simon Nessman.

 

[sybil300]

....Additionally, 80% of the male models do nothing except fashion week and here and there a lookbook or catalogue. It's really not lucrative, no even commercially....

But the same could be said for female models as well. I guess I'm more concerned with the 20% that do more than just fashion week here and a lookbook or catalogue there. Is the Forbes estimate correct? Are the successful 20% making upwards of $500,000 a year? And what campaigns, labels or overall jobs pays that much? I know the men don't have cosmetics, but they have colognes, and accessories. Are those their money making campaigns?

Btw, how much do these campaigns cost? $500,000, a $1 million, etc. Because knowing that might help answer my question. For instance I was trying to calculate what might be the budget for the D&G F/W 10 campaign which was shot by Testino and features male models Vladmir Ivanov, Simon Nessman, Travis Davenport, etc. Let's say the female models made 100k each. Assuming the men make a 1/3 of the women, then they only made 30k. Or am I thinking of this completely wrong. So though Simon Nessman was featured in what seems like every campaign known to man, he's often sharing that with other models both male and female. So I'm thinking he has to work extra hard at landing as many campaigns to make that yearly income of $500k. Is my thinking about this correct, or am I completely off base? Input from anyone with knowledge of this would be great!