Bella Hadid named Model of Year by experts but public votes for Kendall Jenner

Hadid rounded off a busy year by being named Model of the Year (Women) today by website Models.com. Last week her sister Gigi was named top model at the UK's Fashion Awards.

A panel of 250 fashion industry experts, including designers, stylists, photographers, editors, make-up artists and casting directors, voted to crown the American model with this year's title. But there were marked differences between the models voted by fashion insiders and those the public seem to prefer.

At the end of each year, the Models.com website asks industry experts and the public to vote for the male and female models who stood out the most over the course of the year. Votes are cast in several categories, including Model of the Year, Social Media Star, Street Style and Humanitarian.

At just 20 years old, Hadid is particularly in demand among high-end fashion houses and beauty brands. Over the course of 2016, she has starred in runway shows for Bottega Veneta, Versace, Moschino, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Dior Haute Couture and Chanel Haute Couture. She also became a brand ambassador for Dior Beauté, and has featured in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Topshop, Versace, Calvin Klein and Givenchy.

But while the fashion industry picked Hadid as top model, the public vote went to Kendall Jenner. That's perhaps not so surprising given that the model has some 106 million followers across social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Other models nominated for this year's award include Lineisy Montero, Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk, Ruth Bell, Lexi Boling, Vittoria Ceretti, Mica Arganaraz and Rianne van Rompaey.

In the male category, Australian model Jordan Barrett was picked as Model of the Year by industry experts, while Brazilian model Francisco Lachowski won the public vote. 

In other categories, Gigi Hadid (industry experts) and Emily Ratajkowski (public) took the title of Social Media Star, along with Jordan Barrett (industry experts) and Lucky Blue Smith (public) in the male category.

Cameron Russell (industry experts) and Karlie Kloss (public) were recognised for their commitment to humanitarian causes. Willow Smith (industry experts) and Cara Delevingne (public) were the favourite female Celebrity Models, with Jaden Smith (industry experts) and Jared Leto (public) coming top in the male award.