Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Models Earn Staggering Amounts of Cash

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Victoria's Secret's Fashion Show is being filmed tonight, and Forbes took the opportunity to estimate just how much it pays to be an Angel. The magazine, which put together a list of the highest-paid models in the world this fall, has it that five of the 47 models in the show take home a combined $28.5 million pretax from all their gigs in the 12 months prior to June 2015. Forbes pegs that number at a combined $50+ million in annual paychecks when you factor in all 47 models, including VS newbies like Gigi Hadid, who will be wearing butterfly wings and Brian Atwood heels for the show.

Adriana Lima, one of the most famous Victoria's Secret Angels, is thought by Forbes to earn $9 million this year. The magazine estimates Martha Hunt at $2 million in annual earnings, Kendall Jenner at $4 million, and Hadid at $2.5 million.

Meanwhile, The Fashion Law did some research on what goes into Victoria's Secret Angel contracts. While the brand didn't comment on the contracts, The Fashion Law asserts that being an Angel requires a time commitment for events and promotion, as well as a provision to maintain a "healthy and muscular" figure.

Even though some speculate that Angel pay is down from years past, The Fashion Law suggests that new models go into it for the publicity and the steady work. "This is for sure like a full-time job; it feels like I was just hired by a company and I’m literally like going to the office," new Angel Jac Jagaciak told Fashionista in July. "It’s more stable for me, which I love — I finally live here full-time and that’s a big change. I feel very settled."

I got my chicas by my side. #VSFashionShow

A video posted by Victoria's Secret (@victoriassecret) on Nov 10, 2015 at 10:53am PST

morning snuggles with the pink dog!!! It's show day!! Show excited #vsfashionshow #vspink @victoriassecret @vspink

A photo posted by Josephine Skriver (@josephineskriver) on Nov 10, 2015 at 8:09am PST

boys room

A photo posted by Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner) on Nov 10, 2015 at 10:11am PST

Racked Video: Behind the scenes at a lingerie photoshoot