German Vogue cover girl Anna Ewers beats Kendall and Gigi to be named Model Of The Year by industry experts - but the Victoria's Secret stars win the public vote

With their enormous social media following and star turns as Victoria's Secret angels under their belts, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid both seemed like frontrunners for the Model of the Year title.

But in the prestigious Models.com annual, the LA-based celebrities have lost out to a surprising competitor: Vogue cover girl and Alexander Wang muse Anna Ewers, 22.

Industry experts, including stylists, photographers and editors, named Anna as their top model with Gigi as runner-up, but the star won the public vote, with Kendall coming in second place. 

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Industry experts, including stylists, photographers and editors have named German model Anna Ewers - pictured on the catwalk for Tory Burch - their top model of 2015

Anna Ewers, beat popular models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner who are known for their huge social media followings and are a constant presence in the headlines 

Industry experts also named Gigi as social media star of the year, despite having 10.4 million Instagram followers compared with Kendall's mammoth fan base of 44.3 million. 

Meanwhile, her sister Bella, 18, was named Breakout Star in the public vote.  

Models.com stated that the winner of the Model of the Year Crown was: 'The singular face that defined the year as a whole with ubiquitous industry demand and presence.' 

Anna was discovered by designer Alexander Wang who saw her photo on a blog. She has appeared on the cover of international editions of Vogue nine times, including four this year.

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She's just been named Model of the Year, beating out other well known hopefuls like Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne. And as a muse to top designer, Alexander Wang, we see why Anna Ewers received the top honor.

Here the German beauty wears a metallic studded dress and a pair of flatform shoes by Alexander himself. The velvet stompers were all over the designer's Fall 2015 runway and were previously worn Lady Gaga, with Madonna and Rihanna being spotted in similar styles from the Autumn range.

Flatforms have grown in popularity with brands like Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood getting in on the trend so we expect the motif to stick around a while longer.

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Gigi Hadid, 20, hit a career high when she starred as a Victoria's Secret angel at the lingerie company's prestigious annual fashion show earlier this year 

Kendall Jenner, 20, missed out on being crowned Model of the Year by industry experts but she was runner-up in the public vote. She achieved a career dream when she walked for the Victoria's Secret show in New York alongside close friend Gigi Hadid this year 

While she may not have the same headline-grabbing power as her rivals, she's fronted a number of prestigious campaigns in 2015 including Chanel and Alexander Wang. 

Winner Anna is a popular with Vogue, covering four issues this year alone.

Runner-up Gigi made her grand debut for the lingerie brand alongside long-established Angels Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel and Lily Aldridge.

As well as her modelling career going from strength-to-strength it was recently announced that she will be making her first foray into fashion designing. 

The American beauty will create a capsule collection for Tommy Hilfiger, launching in time for the AW16 runway season, as well as launching a fragrance. 

Since signing with IMG Models in 2011, she's shot campaigns for Balmain and Guess and has walked for designers such as Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Max Mara. 

The blonde beauty is also a brand ambassador for Maybelline and posed for the 2015 Pirelli calendar. 

Her close friend Kendall, 20, the second youngest of the Kardashian clan has also seen her star ascend even higher in 2015.

She started out on the E! show as the shyest sibling - avid fans will remember when she was too nervous to interview people on the street for her Teen Vogue column.

But fast-forward a few years and she's the coolest Kardashian/Jenner export - with a reported net worth of £1.9m and counting.

She walked in the season's hottest fashion week shows and was unveiled as the face of Estee Lauder.

Anna became the muse of designer Alexander Wang after he saw the model's photo on a blog and tracked her down. She's appeared in several of his ad campaigns, including this racy shot for his denim line where she poses almost naked apart from a pair of jeans pulled down to her calves

Then, Karl Lagerfeld, the industry's most esteemed designer, revealed that Kendall had been chosen as the face of his SS15 campaign.

And over the last few seasons she has been booked for show after show.

Appearances in LOVE Magazine - including in an embrace with Cara Delevingne - haven't hurt either.

Editor Katie Grand - who has championed Kendall in her publication - said of the decision to cast the young star, 'When we are casting Marc Jacobs, I always try and throw in a couple of unexpected models. 

Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls, who modelled for Victoria's Secret this year and Karlie Kloss, pictured walking for Diane Von Furstenberg, also made the shortlist 

Jourdan Dunn, Karlie Kloss, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid pose backstage at the Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week. All were nominated as for the title of Models.com Model of the Year title, but lost out to German star Anna Ewers 

'When Kendall Jenner's agent, Christopher Michael, called me and asked me to meet Kendall, I was intrigued.'

She recently made models.com list of the top 50 models in the world for the first time. 

The list ranks models according to how many campaigns, front covers and followers they have.

Writing about the model on her bio page, the site said: 'A+ management and a selective slate of bookings have elevated Kendall to the heights of modeling in record time.

Cara Delevingne, modelling for Topshop in 2014, rarely appears on the catwalk these days as she's stepped away from her career in fashion to focus on acting and singing. She was voted the number one Celebrity as Model by the public, proving that many people seem to have forgotten her catwalk credentials 

'With an Estee Lauder contract under her belt, a multi-page editorial in US Vogue and work with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Katie Grand and Marc Jacobs, Kendall is the bonafide girl of the moment.

'You can expect her wholesome good looks and millions of followers to take her straight to the top.'

British model Jourdan Dunn also won a place in the Model of the Year shortlist.

After being Discovered in a local Primark at 16 she has been unstoppable ever since. 

She's walked the runways for nearly every top designer and made history as the first black model since Naomi Campbell to strut down the catwalk for Prada.

Other big names on the list were Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls. 

Additionally, Karlie won the public vote for Humanitarian of the Year.

Surprisingly, British model Cara Delevingne was voted the top celebrity who 'plays the role of model with ease' by the public. 

The 23-year-old has fronted ad campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Mango and Opium and walked for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel 

However, in the past year she's declared that she's turning her back on modelling to focus on her film career.