By gracing the cover of Playboy’s international edition, Stephanie Viada not only reached a modeling milestone, she gained the ultimate plus-size revenge on those not quite willing to take a chance on her during the early days of her career.
Far from gloating, instead, the Boston native is quite proud of the cover honor as well as being part of the editorial process, including having some influential input in the cover shot chosen for Finland’s issue of the classic men’s magazine. For Viada, persistence paid off as the 10-page spread that accompanied the cover was worth the 10-plus years of repeated rejection—from being told she was too big, too small, even too blonde, for starters.
“They gave me pretty much full creative control to work this with my publicist on it,” Viada says. “It was really fun to have a strong team of people that I’ve wanted to work with forever as well as some fun sponsors and collaborators on the shoot.”
As a plus-size model, Viada made it to the pinnacle of print her way, sticking to a routine of training and not going all in with diet culture. A feat to be applauded, Viada oftentimes has to face heat from both sides of the body image illuminati. While she gets plenty of adoration and admiration for her achievements, she has to deal with the unfair the social media hate—from influencers attacking her for not representing “model size” and others who may label her as a sell out for allowing her images to be touched up—a standard for most models.
“You can’t win,” she admits. “It’s like you don’t see the straight-size girls getting dragged because they were skin airbrushed. But because I’m plus size, sometimes it feels like they expect you to have this ‘relatability factor’ and becoming the exception by leaving my stretch marks in the images. It’s a double standard.”
Viada, who’s also worked with brands including Lululemon and Abercrombie, knows critique with the territory, but instead of dwelling on the negativity, wants to lead by example for other plus-size models—and models in general—that you can fit and sexy at any size, provided you do keep your health in check.
She attributes her confidence and to that never-relenting fitness dedication, which blew up when she was high school athlete growing up near Boston. “I loved field hockey and lacrosse— those were my favorites,” she says. “Because I felt like my strengths really worked for me when I played those sports.”
These days, Viada has moved away from the team sports and is hooked on boutique fitness, specifically Barre and Pilates. Viada says the transition is what keeps her runway and cover fit, and is a part of a balanced and steady wellness regimen that she hopes stresses the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, no matter your size.
“I think it’s important for my public image to be at my healthiest and strongest,” she says. “I don’t want to perpetuate this narrative that being a plus-size model means not working out. I want it to be held to the same standards as the straight-size girls, styled the same way, shot the same way, and held to the same standards.”
Staying healthy is just one part of Viada’s Winning Strategy. Stephanie Viada explains how she succeeded in modeling by capitalizing on every opportunity, staying true to herself, and not giving in to the skeptics.
When I was 18, I came to New York to try out modeling. The industry hadn’t really changed at that time (about 2006)—you either had to be very large and have certain measurements to be plus size or be so skinny to do standard modeling.
My first auditions were full of, “You’re not really big enough or small enough for this job.” Then there was the time when I got pretty far at an open casting. But when it came to a final decision, it was like, “Well, we already have our blonde girl. But if you’re interested in going brunette…” It turned out they just wanted one model of each hair color, so nothing came of it.
That’s when I started thinking that modeling just wasn’t meant to be. A few years went by, then Ashley Graham’s [Sports Illustrated] cover came out [in 2016]. I thought, “This is more my speed, both lookswise and the direction the industry was going.”
So I gave it one more shot. I submitted my pictures to an agency in Los Angeles, and this time they replied immediately! I wasn’t used to that, because in the past it had always been so, so close, then no thank you.
But this time, as soon as I moved out to LA, they offered me a contract and my first job on the first day.
After that, I always hoped for in the back of my head to do something like Playboy or Sports Illustrated. So when this latest opportunity came, I was so down for it. it was really exciting.
I’ve been called an in-betweener—not too big or too small—and at one point I assumed modeling may not happen for me, because I knew that no matter how much I dieted or worked out, I was never gonna lose enough weight to be a straight-size model.
My No. 1 priority has always been to the healthiest, strongest version of myself—and it wasn’t always as easy a choice as it sounds.
For the longest time, my first gut instinct was always to lose weight, even during a point in which my career might have actually benefitted from gaining weight. But to me, that could never be a healthy choice.
I grew up in the diet-fad crazy ‘90s. I tried them all—the grapefruit diet, the cookie diet, SlimFast shakes. I did it all at probably way too young of an age while I was in high school. And of course, it never worked for me because it’s just not where my body was.
It took me a long time to figure out what my body reacted best to. I tried to go vegan—for the animals—and kept gaining weight. I worked with nutritionists, tennis trainers, and paid way too much for fitness trainers that just never worked for me.
It took a lot of trial and error. I even talked to my mom and sister because we were so similar body wise—we kind of realized what triggered our bodies. This was how I was able to hone my diet to something that’s healthier and more sustainable, and more important, works for me. It’s not anything extreme—I don’t feel deprived or ever feel the need to go off the rails. I’m just gonna eat whatever I want, but in a reasonable way. Now I feel that I’ve become the most physically fit, healthiest, and most confident version of myself ever.
I think a huge part of working out is for my own confidence. When I’m on set, I’m confident with what I’m producing, and what the client is getting and expecting based on how I present myself.
I don’t want to be self conscious if they asked me to model a certain thing or do a certain angle. And because I’m a plus-size model, I think it’s also important for my public image to be at my healthiest and strongest. I don’t want to perpetuate this narrative that being a plus-size model means not working out. I want to be held to the same standards as the straight-size girls—and shot the same way too.
I always loved sports. I played lacrosse and field hockey for four years in high school. I also liked horseback riding.
Now, most of my workouts are either Barre class or Pilates. They’re the base of all my workouts. Barre helped me lose some weight before modeling. Then when I first moved to LA, I kind of fell off my workout routine. I tried gym workouts, but that wasn’t really doing what I needed because I am so quad-dominant, I wasn’t getting the definition I was looking for. But the ballet-based Pilates based workouts changed my mind and body in a way I haven’t been able to get from other workouts.
Now, I try to work out every day, if possible, and maybe keep the weekends kind of open depending on my schedule. If I can’t get to a class, I’ll do weights and cardio or at least try and get in a decent hike outside.
I wasn’t really sure at first what my goal was. I work out a lot, but I didn’t want it to be a fitness page. I think my goal became to show others that it’s not always about getting smaller. You can still be confident with your fitness goals while still being a larger size. There doesn’t have to be some moment of acceptance that you’ll never be smaller therefore you have to love yourself where you’re at and perpetuate the narrative of being out of shape. You can be a fitness icon or inspiration, and health and size don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive to achieve this.
I try to post a lot of content without creating a long, drawn-out caption about my journey to becoming comfortable enough to post myself in a swimsuit. The message is that I’m here and I worked hard to get here. I’m not going to make it some sob story about posting myself in a swimsuit, I’m going to present and post in the same way and style that my straight-size counterparts do while promoting a healthier lifestyle to getting here.
Promoting being physically active and thinking about what you eat without crucifying anyone for diet culture and those types of things—that’s just as toxic. I’m not perpetuating eating disorders. I’m perpetuating a healthy lifestyle.
I get some hate, for sure. I get a lot of praise too. Some people are like, it’s really nice to see that you can kind of do both things hand in hand. But if I ever do post about keto or my workouts, it will be met with a lot of people who are like, Oh, I’d like to learn more. Then there are people who say what I post is toxic, that I’m promoting diet culture and that I’m a bad influence.
Or I’ll get one side that’s like, “It’s so great to see a curved model on playboy,” then also have curvy girls telling me this isn’t a win for girls because I was edited.
I can’t please everybody but it doesn’t bother me anymore.
It’s kind of a double standard when it comes to plus size and straight size models. Do I need to call Playboy and be like, “Playboy, can you stop airbrushing me?” This should be a win—I’m size 14 And I’m on the cover of Playboy!
The way the industry is now, if you’re interested in modeling, go for it. Try it. But be prepared for a lot of no’s—but don’t take it personally. You can never read the client’s mind. At the same time, a lot of these companies have such high turnover, even if you hear no, that’s just one person’s opinion, and that same brand may want you literally 48 hours later.
It’s never personal, and it took me a long time to not be offended. I used to unfollow brands when I first started modeling because they didn’t want me—and in reality it has nothing to do with that. It’s just a strange, volatile industry with constant turnover. So just keep pushing for it. What’s so great about modeling is that it’s something you can always do on the side if you already have a main job or career.
If it’s something you’ve always wanted to try, work to grow your Instagram, build your book and get in front of as many people as possible. It’s not gonna work the first time. It’s solid now for me, but it’s been a long wait.
