Gisele becomes world’s highest-paid model

Supermodel outpaces her closest competition, Doutzen Kroes and Adriana Lima.

Her beauty has enough men around the world swooning over her and now, her bank account is going to have the same impact. With estimated earnings of $47 million during 2013 from lucrative contracts and other business ventures, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen is the world’s highest-paid model for the eighth consecutive year, reported Forbes.com.

The model has contracts with fashion retailer H&M, French fashion house Chanel and designer Carolina Herrera, among others, and has design deals for lingerie and sandals as well. “Bundchen, who boasts 2.7 million Instagram followers, has earned $386 million from modelling since 2001.”

The 34-year-old wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and mother of two easily outpaced her closest competition, Dutch Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes, 29, with earnings of $8 million before taxes and fees. She also surpassed fellow Brazilian Victoria’s Secret ‘angel’ Adriana Lima, 33, with the same amount.

“The Brazilian icon pocketed $47 million in the last 12 months before taxes and fees,” Forbes.com said about Bundchen, adding that she made $16 million more than her football player husband. British model Kate Moss, 40, the face of luxury jeweller David Yurman, was also among the top earners, bringing in $7 million, as did American model and Sports Illustrated magazine cover girl Kate Upton, 22, who is a newcomer to the list and rounded out the top five models.

Forbes calculated the earnings from June 2013 to June 2014 for the models and looked at income from cosmetics, endorsements, and advertising and fragrance deals. Other fresh faces among the 21 highest-paid models who earned a combined total of $142 million include English model Cara Delevingne, 22, and American Karlie Kloss, 22.

Apart from lucrative contracts for top brands, Bundchen gets a cut from the sale of the jelly sandals she designs for Brazilian shoemaker Grendene. A Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme, Bundchen is a member of the board of the Rainforest Alliance, a non-profit organisation dedicated to conserving biodiversity and sustainability.

Earlier this year, Bundchen unveiled the trophy at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Football World Cup. Bundchen unveiled the coveted gold statuette in its custom designed Louis Vuitton case, reported the Daily Mail.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2014.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.