Why do these very famous models keep telling people they're not models?

She’s one of the world’s highest-earning models, with an estimated worth of $20 million, yet Miranda Kerr doesn’t want to be defined as a model. Neither does 21-year-old Victoria’s Secret Angel Karlie Kloss.

In an interview with Net-a-Porter’s Edit magazine, Kerr, who is now a certified health practitioner, doesn’t consider being paid to stand in front of a camera her actual job.

“From my first photoshoot at 14, I never saw myself as a model,” she insists.

“If someone asks me what I do, I say, ‘I have my own skincare line.’ I don’t define myself as a model.”

Apart from her Kora Organics skincare line, Kerr has two self-help books aimed at young women, Treasure Yourself and Empower Yourself and recently debuted a rendition of Elvis Presley’s hit You’re The Boss, alongside Irish singer Bobby Fox.

I don’t think anyone would be surprised if she released a line of juice blenders or a Superfoods cookbook next.

Kloss, who is rumoured to make Forbes highest earning models list for 2014, echoed the same sentiment in an interview with Into the Gloss.

“I have never considered modeling an actual job title. I have yet to determine what my job actually is but, yeah, modeling is a fun and funny gig.”

Vogue covers aside, Kloss has a range of biscuits, Karley’s Kookies, a gluten-free collaboration with New York’s Momofuku Milk Bar. A signature line of sunglasses with Warby Parker (a US version of Specsavers), and has been studying business at Harvard.

Oh wait- paying to study short course at Harvard. She reportedly paid $8,750 to enrol in “The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports,” a course, which being able to speak and write English are the only entrance requirements.

While there’s thousands of girls desperate to crack into the notoriously tough modelling industry, it’s now fashionable to deny their profession altogether.

But can we blame them? As Kerr said in her interview with Edit magazine, “I might as well do it while I can. It’s not going to last forever.”

Of course they want to set themselves up; modelling has an early retirement age.

Squandering all your modelling dollars would be an especially hard fall, once you’ve flown on private jets, holidayed on private tropical islands and been accustomed to the pseudo-glamourous lifestyle that comes with being a model of the super variety.

While shunning the industry is new, branching into other areas is not.

Cindy Crawford released workout videos in the 90s, Naomi Campbell penned a book, and Elle McPherson, who has possibly shown the best business acumen, used her moniker “The Body” for a range of business ventures, the most successful her line of lingerie with Bendon. With an estimated net worth of $60 million, McPherson is also executive producer and host of tv shows Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model (which former model Tyra Banks created) and Fashion Star.

Interestingly, despite still modelling at age 50, Elle McPherson’s title on Wikipedia reads: ‘Businesswoman’.

If that’s what Kerr and Kloss are shooting for, it’s a very smart move.