The format was created by Tyra Banks for the original series, America's Next Top Model, which first aired in 2003 and was produced by Ken Mok's 10 by 10 Entertainment.

Each episode, which covers the events of roughly one week of real time, is usually associated with a theme in the world of modeling, such as dealing with the press in interviews, selling a commercial product, appearing in a runway show, or visiting prospective employers in "go-sees".

The model who is chosen will complete what is required for the casting, resulting in a leave of absence within the episode – sometimes skipping the photo shoot and other challenges – but is rewarded with immunity for booking the job.

Contestants are sometimes given a final challenge in some area of modeling such as posing, runway walking, selling a product, or choosing an appropriate outfit or makeup to satisfy a given situation.

Germany, Austria, and Indonesia (cycle 2 - present) feature a themed runway segment in addition to the judging of the photos or videos.

Upon being called back, they are either eliminated on the spot, declared safe, or they are asked to wait for their results.

Episodes typically end with the image of the eliminated models fading away from a group shot of the remaining contestants.

A trip to an international destination is typically scheduled at about two-thirds of the way through the competition, usually with five or six contestants remaining.

Through cycles 19-21, America's Next Top Model enabled social media fans to vote for each contestant's photos online based on a scale ranging from 1 (being the worst) to 10 (being the best).

Furthermore, one or more eliminated contestants received the opportunity to re-enter the competition if they earned the highest overall score average over a certain period of time.

The social media scoring system was also implemented in the sixth and seventh cycles of Austria's Next Topmodel.

In contrast to the American adaptation, each voter is required to cast their votes on the show's website with accounts that link with Facebook.

A separate scoring system, without social media voting, was introduced in the ninth cycle of Australia's Next Top Model.

The Top Model format has been adapted for numerous national and regional versions around the world.