IT may have been the year that the fashion world embraced the Instagram generation, but Gisele Bundchen has proved once again that she is the indisputable queen of the catwalk.

    Bundchen is still leaps and bounds ahead of her modeling competitors — raking in a whopping US$30.5 million in the last year despite a 30 percent drop in earnings from US$44 million in the previous year.

    Chinese model Liu Wen ranks eighth in Forbes’ highest-paid models list.

    The Forbes rich list reveals the 36-year-old Bundchen earns almost three times more than the likes of Kendall Jenner, who pocketed US$10 million in the year from June 2015.

    However, the Kardashian-clan member’s salary is not to be sniffed at — her earnings have jumped 150 percent from the US$4 million she made in 2015 thanks to her savvy use of social media and Estée Lauder deal.

    Her earnings land her in tie third position with Victoria’s Secret model Karlie Kloss, and just ahead of fellow socialite Gigi Hadid, who took home a not unimpressive US$9 million, putting her in joint fifth.

    In second place in the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid models is Victoria’s Secret veteran Adriana Lima who pocketed US$10.5 million thanks to her endorsement deals with the likes of Maybelline, Vogue Eyewear and IWC watches.

    Meanwhile, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has entered the world’s highest-paid models list for the first time, above the likes of Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne. Chinese model Liu made her way into the top 10 again, with annual income of US$7 million.

    The 20 models earned a combined US$150 million between June 1, 2015 and June 1, 2016. The results included income from cosmetics, fragrance and other contracts and were based on interviews with managers, agents and brand executives.

    (SD-Agencies)