Model ‘Get Out Of Bed’ Rates
From the mouths of babes, Supermodel quote of the day…
“I don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” – Linda Evangelista
I feel the need to address a fallacy that models get paid an exorbitant amount of money. OK, there were periods in the history of this industry when that was kind of true. If we step back in time to revisit the rates of 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, well maybe not quite that extravagant.
Most of those rates have now flattened out to almost fast-food hourly rates. The number of agencies has increased, the number of models has increased, the rates have dropped, and the number of models purely making a living from modeling alone has diminished. Thank the model gods for social media!
So how does this all pan out in the real world? We can look to the supermodels. As we know, Linda Evangelista won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, but what do they actually earn? The incomes of the top five supermodels in 2017, according to Forbes, were:
- Kendall Jenner $22 Million (The Society Management NY)
- Gisele Bündchen $17.5million (IMG Models)
- Chrissy Teigen $13.5 million (IMG Models)
- Adriana Lima $10.5 million (The Society Management NY)
- Gigi Hadid $9.5 Million (IMG Models)
I am guessing IMG Models had a pretty good 2017 Christmas Party!
This however, is for those at 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, Marie Claire) contrary to popular belief do not pay well. They are on the lower end of the pay scale. However, cheesy commercials and cheap mass fashion are where you will find the ch-ching.
There is another literal shortcut that many advertisers utilize, we models are cheaper from the chin down. The jaw is the magic cut off point for dollars vs. savings.
There are also stock library photos, which throw another spanner in the works. Pretty much any picture you want is just a click away, and models have become almost obsolete. With the looming age of AI how long will it be till we are actually obsolete?
The other disadvantage we face is tight cash flow. Many models face a three-month delay in being paid. The last few years have also seen corporate advertising budgets being cut, which means gone are the days of the free gourmet lunch in the middle of a shoot.
What about the Model lottery – the rollover? No, this is not sexual or a dog trick. This is the grand event that rarely occurs, like sighting a unicorn eating a sandwich, when a previous job that you have appeared in, rolls over. In other words, the job is aired again after the original agreed time frame finishes. We get bonus money in our bank accounts while doing no extra work. Quite often this surprise money is spent on a holiday or shopping rather than saving it though. I am yet to meet a model who is a financial adviser.
Eventually, we are probably going to have make way for virtual reality models anyway, right? So I guess it is just about riding the gravy train till that day comes.
In short (from the chin down):
I earn money to stand up or sit down.
I pay tax to justify collecting flowers from public areas.
I pay commission to my agency to be told that I am on a strong ‘hold’ for that casting I went for last week…
