Model 'get out of bed' rates

Supermodel quote of the day - from the mouths of babes:
“There’s a button that goes On and I’m On. And when I go on, there is almost no me: there is just a character who is doing all of this.” – Gisele Bundchen

I feel the need to address the fallacy that models get paid an exorbitant amount of money. OK there were periods in the history of this industry when that was sort of true. If we stepped back in time to revisit the rates from the 80’s or Japan in the 90's, we would see that it was all gold bullions and 1000 thread count sheets lined with diamonds (OK not quite that extravagant). Those rates have flattened out to almost fast food service hourly rates. The number of agencies has increased, the rates have dropped and the number of models purely making a living from modelling alone has diminished. It is true, there are some really great paying jobs, but they are few and far between.

We can of course look at the supermodels. As we know, Linda Evangalista won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, but what do they actually earn? The incomes of the top 10 supermodels in 2012 according to Forbes were:

1. Gisele Bundchen (IMG Models) $45million/year
2. Kate Moss (IMG Models) $9.2 million
3. Natalia Vodianova (DNA Models) $8.6 million
4. Adriana Lima (Marilyn NY) $7.3 million
5. Doutzen Kroes (DNA Models) $6.9 million
6. Alessandro Ambrosio (DNA Models) $6.6 million
7. Miranda Kerr (IMG Models) $4 million
8. Lara Stone (IMG Models) $3.8 million
9. Carolyn Murphy (IMG Models) $3.5 million
10. Candice Swanepoel (IMG Models) $3.1 million
* I am guessing IMG Models had a pretty good Christmas Party in 2012!

This however is the top of the game, it is not so easy for the rest of us.

Here is the model pay breakdown... High fashion magazines, think Vogue, Elle etc. beautiful magazines, contrary to popular belief do not pay well, they are on the lower end of the scale. So are high end fashion parades. However, cheesy commercials and cheap mass fashion labels are where you will find the ch-ching.

There is a literal short cut that many advertisers utilize, we models are cheaper from the chin down. The chin is the magic cut off point for dollars vs. $$$.

The other disadvantage we face is tight cash flow, many models face a three month delay in being paid. That is why they are so skinny. To be fair it is actually far more common overseas, Australia is very good in comparison.

We also have corporate advertising budgets being cut, which means, gone are the days of the free gourmet lunch, which you used to get in the middle of a shoot, or free clothes at the end of the day, or 8 shots/outfits in a day (now you have to get 50).

In short (from the chin down):
I pay tax to justify collecting flowers from public areas.
I pay commission to my agency for them to tell me to lose weight, send me to castings and try to make a living