About
Fluvia Lacerda is a Brazilian plus‑size model, author, and outspoken advocate for body diversity. Born in Rio de Janeiro on 31 July 1980, she burst onto the fashion scene at a time when sample sizes rarely stretched beyond a U.S. 4. Rather than shrinking to fit the mold, she widened the mold, earning the affectionate label “the Gisele Bündchen of plus‑size” at home. Her résumé now embraces covers for Vogue Italia and Playboy Brasil, runway and catalog work for Torrid, Kmart, Mar & Nua, and the 2011 Plus‑Size Model of the Year prize at New York’s Full Figured Fashion Week. Today, she is booked on five continents and is cited as one of the most influential curve models in the world.
Away from studio lights, she uses her platform as a writer and speaker. Her 2017 manifesto‑memoir, Gorda não é palavrão (“Fat Is Not a Bad Word”), blends personal narrative with cultural critique, urging readers to treat self‑acceptance as an everyday political act. The book, published by Paralela and reprinted several times, helped cement her reputation as a thought‑leader on size inclusion and still appears on Brazilian feminist reading lists.
Before Fame
Fluvia’s early years were split between Rio and the northern city of Boa Vista. At sixteen, she persuaded her parents to let her spend a year in the United States to improve her English, arriving in New York City in 1996 with limited funds and limitless curiosity. Tuition and rent meant long hours as a nanny and weekend cleaning jobs, but the city’s energy kept her determined.
Everything changed during a crowded bus ride in 2003. A fashion‑magazine producer noticed her statuesque frame, struck up conversation, and scribbled the names of several plus‑size agencies on a business card. Skeptical yet intrigued, Fluvia attended an open call a month later—and left with her first contracts. That serendipitous encounter transformed a nanny into an international model who would go on to command day rates in the tens of thousands.
Trivia
- Record‑breaking cover: Fluvia is still the only Brazilian plus‑size model to front Vogue Italia; the 2012 issue sold out its initial print run.
- Award winner: She was named Plus‑Size Model of the Year at 2011’s Full Figured Fashion Week in New York.
- Author’s voice: Her 160‑page Gorda não é palavrão mixes memoir and social‑justice handbook, encouraging readers to stop postponing joy “until the scales cooperate.”
- Streaming reach: Since 2021, she has starred in E! Entertainment’s docu‑series Beauty XL; season two reached about 49.5 million households across Latin America.
- Global citizen: Fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, she has shot editorials in more than fifteen countries, from Spain and Australia to Jamaica and Canada.
Family Life
Family is the name Fluvia holds closest. Her daughter, who was born in 2000, came three years prior to her first kiss of a successful modeling career; her son Pedro was born in 2014. She is often seen crediting her mother, Matilde Lacerda, with the toughness that allowed her to cope with initial rejection and cyberbullying, and multigenerational images are common on her Instagram page. Fluvia was wedded to businessman Walace Andrade de Araújo until their 2013 friendly divorce. She splits time now between a Brooklyn loft and an apartment in Rio so that her children can learn both languages and cultures.
Associated With
Collaboration fuels Fluvia’s success. In April 2018, she worked with legendary fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth on a playful, high‑contrast editorial that celebrated curvy sensuality. She also shares the screen with fellow curve icons Mayara Russi and Nahuane Drumond on Beauty XL, proving that a chorus of voices can move the industry faster than any solo star.
Though reporters continue to compare her to Gisele Bündchen, Fluvia locates herself within a larger tradition of Brazilian women redefining beauty standards. She has taught aspiring models, critiqued portfolios, and given back the runway fees to programs that treat eating disorders and support diversity in sports over the past few years. Designers, photographers, and social activists still solicit her for campaigns, panels, and benefit auctions—testimony that style, as with confidence, expands when shared.
