Models, hey.

Born with a whole lot of gifts from God, they are then paid to make us feel bad about the way we look so we, in turn, buy the clothes they wear and make those companies money.

It’s an horrific cycle, but we have all bought into it in one way or another.

Of all the gigs they can land, the most prestigious is earning themselves a pair of “Angel wings”, received when they walk the runway for the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, reports Business Insider.:

Jan Planit, who used to head up top modelling agency IMG and now runs Planit Model Management, once told the New York Post:

“There are very few special things you can achieve as a model. Getting your Angel wings is the ultimate.”

A privilege, of course, and the money isn’t bad either.

According to BI, “nine of the models who appeared in the 2016 show even appeared on Forbes’ list of the world’s 20 highest-paid models in 2016”.

Casual.

So who are the top earners, then? Well, let’s take a look at the top five.

5. Alessandra Ambrosio — $5 million (£4 million)

Alessandra Ambrosio first took to the Victoria’s Secret runway in 2004. The 36-year old is one of the show’s veterans. According to the Daily Mail, her net worth is in the region of $60 million (£47 million).

Her Instagram has 8.5 million followers. Ambrosio’s favourite places to visit are Bali and the Brazilian party city of Florianopolis.

4. Liu Wen — $7 million (£5.4 million)

Chinese-born Liu Wen has a net worth of $35 million (£27 million), according to the Daily Mail.

The 28-year old became the first Asian model to take to the Angels runway in 2009. She is also one of only three non-white models — all of whom walked in the 2016 VS show— to make Forbes’ list. She has 2.8 million Instagram followers.

3. Gigi Hadid — $9 million (£7 million)

The eldest of the supermodel Hadid sisters, 21-year old Gigi has more than 34 million Instagram followers.

She walked her first Victoria’s Secret show in 2015 and was recently voted runner up Model of the Year 2016 by models.com readers.

2. Kendall Jenner— $10 million (£8 million)

20-year-old Kendall Jenner came out as the third highest-paid model in the world overall, according to Forbes’ 2016 ranking, and the second highest earning VS model, having made her debut on the list in 2015.

She has an impressive 81 million Instagram followers, and first took to the Victoria’s Secret runway in 2015. She is also a brand ambassador for Estée Lauder.

1. Adriana Lima — $10.5 million (£8 million)

Brazilian-born Adriana Lima is the longest serving Victoria’s Secret Angel ever. She was also the highest earning VS model in 2016, according to Forbes.

Lima walked her first Angel show in 1999 and is worth an estimated $75 million (£58 million), according to the Daily Mail.

The 35-year-old currently has 10.8 million followers on her Instagram account @adrianalima.

All in a day’s work.

[source:businessinsider]