Gisele Bundchen leads pack as world's highest paid model: Forbes

The 34-year-old wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and mother of two young children easily outpaced her closest competition, Dutch Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes, 29, with earnings of $8 million before taxes and fees, and 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.

The model has contracts with fashion retailer H&M, the French fashion house Chanel and designer Carolina Herrera, among others, and has design deals for lingerie and sandals.

“Bundchen, who boasts 2.7 million Instagram followers, has earned $386 million from modeling since 2001,” according to Forbes.com.

Forbes calculated the earnings from June 2013 to June 2014 for the models and looked at income from cosmetics, endorsements, advertising and fragrance deals.

British model Kate Moss, 40, the face of luxury jeweler David Yurman, was also among the top earners, bringing in $7 million, as did American model and Sports Illustrated magazine covergirl Kate Upton, 22, who is a newcomer to the list and rounded out the top five models.

Other newcomers to the list of the 21 highest paid models who earned a combined total of $142 million include English model Cara Delevingne, 22, and American Karlie Kloss, 22. – Reuters