Devon Aoki

Aoki was born in New York City and grew up in California, attending The American School in London in Westminster. Her Japanese American father, Rocky Aoki, a former Olympic wrestler, is the owner and founder of the Benihana restaurant chain. Her mother, Pamela Hilburger, is a jewelery designer of English and German heritage. Her brother, Steve Aoki, is a well-known Los Angeles, California DJ, and is the founder of the Dim Mak Records. Devon also has a sister and half brother Cole Price.

Aoki was discovered in New York at a Rancid concert she had gatecrashed. She started modeling when she was 13, the same year Aoki was introduced to supermodel Kate Moss by her godmother who would later take the young Devon under her wing. It wasn't much later that Devon signed onto Storm Model Management at age 14. In 1998, Devon replaced Naomi Campbell as the face of Versace.

Aoki has told: "And then I guess from being in New York, I did this photograph for Interview Magazine called "Lovely Rita." My agency says that Kate Moss brought the picture in and told them that they should, you know, sign me. And then it happened, and then in my early career we did a lot of jobs together. She was a big help to me when I first started".