Tyson Beckford on How Linda Evangelista Helped Models Get Rich

Tyson Beckford says Linda Evangelista's famous pronouncement about '90s-era supermodels not waking up "for less than $10,00 a day" helped him — and other models of his time — make "silly" amounts of money.

Beckford explained in a recent interview that some of his paychecks were so large, they were almost comical.

"I once walked in a fashion show ­— literally, just walked —­ for no more than a minute or two and they paid me a silly amount of money . . . $40,000," Beckford said. "I was like, 'Really? You don't have to give me that!' You know when Linda said that it set the bar for every other model —­ everyone just upped their day rates. It was hilarious. All the models — women and men — were like, 'Remind me to send Linda flowers!'"

Beckford also said that paychecks weren't the only things in the '90s modeling industry that were over the top.

"The fashion industry was so different back then. I guess it was all so new and so extravagant," he said. "The budgets were enormous; it was certainly a lot more fun. The parties were out of control and because no one had a camera phone and there was no Facebook or Twitter, you could do whatever you wanted with whoever you wanted."