Why Do People Fantasize Over Fashion Models

Why Exercise Female Models Make More than Than Male Models?

The world'due south height-earning male model makes a fraction of what Gisele makes.

Oct. 10, 2013— -- It's a man'south world, except in the world of making money as a style model. According to a new ranking from Forbes magazine, male models are still making a fraction in annual salary when compared to their female person counterparts.

Forbes magazine, which tracks the wealth of celebrities, politicians and other influential figures, this week released its list of the earth'south highest-paid male models. Co-ordinate to the report, the 10 summit-earning male person models raked in a combined total of $8 million from September 2012 to September 2013 -- about one-tenth of the $83 meg the ten top-earning female models earned during that time.

At the pinnacle of this year's list was Sean O'Pry, a 24-year-sometime from Kennesaw, Ga., and the face up of several major campaigns, including Versace, H&1000, Hugo Boss and Giorgio Armani. O'Pry made an estimated $1.5 million, which is a pittance compared to the $42 one thousand thousand that Gisele Bundchen, the world's top-earning female model, fabricated in that 12-month period, according to Forbes.

When "Nightline" spoke with O'Pry today, he didn't seem to mind making less than the Brazilian bombshell.

"I'thousand not going to be lament about not making $42 million. ... At the cease of the mean solar day I'thou very, very blest with what I do," O'Pry said. "I don't have to habiliment high heels and I don't have to article of clothing bikinis, so I mean, more power to the ladies. I'm very happy with my career."

Coming in second on the Forbes listing was 33-twelvemonth-erstwhile British native David Gandy, a favorite face for Dolce & Gabbana and Lucky Jeans. He raked in an estimated $1.4 one thousand thousand in earnings in the by twelvemonth, whereas his No. 2 female counterpart, the Australian beauty Miranda Kerr, fabricated an estimated $7.two million.

So why do female fashion models at the top of the manufacture brand more than the guys?

Larry D. Woodard, president and CEO of Graham Stanley Advertizing and advertisement columnist for ABC News, said the reasons are similar to why men's sports is a much larger industry than women'south sports.

"People beloved the WNBA only they are just not in it as much every bit the average guy in the fantasy football league," Woodard said. "In fashion, women are really involved in a fashion that men aren't involved. ... [They] pay more attention to it. ... Women fifty-fifty intendance most couture fashion even if they can't buy it, just they want to look at it and empathize it."

The men'southward habiliment industry rakes in roughly $400 billion worldwide, but the women'southward article of clothing industry worldwide is worth virtually $621 billion. Female person models at the top of the manner industry have multi-meg dollar contracts whereas the men largely are hired for photograph shoots, Woodard said.

"Women are at the top-tier professional level when it comes to doing fashion," he said. "It's the only identify where women outpace men to the caste that they do."

And so the reason Gisele is a household name, simply not Sean O'Pry, Woodard said, is because of sheer star power within the industry where women reign.

Again, similar in sports, "there are some fabulous golfers out there but the TV ratings get up when Tiger Wood plays," Woodard said. "So when [Tiger Woods] is playing, information technology doesn't take away from other people's skills ... just their notoriety."

For male models, attaining supermodel status has been challenging for years, something David Gandy also knows showtime paw.

"It'south an honor to exist a female person supermodel or to be a female model," Gandy told "Nightline" in a May interview. "They get paid an incredible amount of money, and they go a lot of coverage and people know their names and guys never did that. They did well but they never said they were models."

Gandy, half jokingly, credited actor Ben Stiller's title graphic symbol in the picture "Zoolander" for putting a hilarious spin on the male model. In the movie, Stiller plays Derek Zoolander, a dim-witted, vain, self-centered male model in a comedy that zeroed in on every cliche and stereotype of the male modeling earth.

Gandy said modeling was difficult for him at first. He started off doing catalog shoots at a fourth dimension when even male person models were expected to exist ultra-sparse and look nearly feminine.

"I came into the industry with the Dior guy -- very androgynous, skinny guys were the moneymakers in the industry," he told "Nightline." "I didn't follow the crowd. I didn't follow the trends. I bucked the trends. Anybody was saying, 'You need to be skinny, yous need to be skinny.' Your legs demand to be thinner, and I am not a skinny guy."

Gandy is arguably i of the most successful male models ever, simply he was a chip minor about that "supermodel" title.

"I would sort of simply rather be called at the superlative of the game," Gandy said.

ABC News' Ely Brown contributed to this written report