Palvin was born and raised in Budapest, and often traveled to the countryside to visit her grandmother and great-grandmother. When she was 13, she was discovered on the streets of Budapest while walking with her mom by a modeling scout. She shot her first editorial in 2006 for Spur Magazine, and subsequently moved to Asia where she maintained a steady stream of bookings. Since then, Palvin has been on the cover of L'Officiel, Vogue, Marie Claire, Glamour Hungary,Elle, Allure, Harper's Bazaar and Jealouse Magazine. Palvin has appeared in campaigns for Armani Exchange, H&M, Victoria's Secret, and Pull & Bear. In February 2012, she became an ambassador for L'Oréal Paris. In 2016, Palvin was revealed to be a part of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie Class. She also became the new face of Armani's signature scent "Acqua di Gioia." Palvin is the face of Amazon Fashion and appeared on Express and Chaos advertising campaigns. Her runway debut was for Prada during Milan Fashion Week in February 2010. Palvin has also walked for Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Nina Ricci, Emanuel Ungaro, Christopher Kane, Julien MacDonald, Jeremy Scott, Giles Deacon, Vivienne Westwood, Etro, and opened the pre-Fall 2011 Chanel show. In 2012, she walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and wore Rosa Clara on the Barcelona Bridal Week 2012 runway. In 2016, she was ranked 4th in Maxim Hot 100. Tumblr's 2017 list of most popular models reported Palvin to be the second most popular model on the social media site. Palvin returned to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2018. The next year, she became the first Hungarian Victoria's Secret Angel. Palvin's curves and non-standard runway measurements have been considered by the media to be the brand's direction toward "body positivity". Palvin is often compared to Russian model Natalia Vodianova; British Vogue editor Miranda Almond said, "We chose Barbara because she is absolutely exquisite looking, a cross between a young Brooke Shields and Natalia Vodianova". Palvin credits Vodianova and Kate Moss as her favorite models.
Acting
Palvin appeared in the 2014 filmHercules as mythological queen Antimache.
