Her parents left London for New York in 1980, when she was 5 years old. They then relocated to Los Angeles in 1985.[4] Her mother, who was born in Ohio, was of German and Japanese ancestry and her father is Chinese.[5] She has a younger brother, Maximilian (b. 1978). Her parents divorced in November 1989.[6][7]
In 1992, Chow's mother Tina died of AIDS. The same year, Chow's father married Eva Chun, a Korean fashion designer.[8] In February 2019, her father married his fourth wife, Vanessa Rano, who is 49 years his junior.[9][10]
Chow was discovered as a prospective fashion model by Roger Museenden.[12] She spent several years following in her mother's footsteps working as a model for Shiseido cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Her modeling led to her being named one of Harper's Bazaar's "It Girls" in 1996 and an appearance in the December 1996 edition of Vogue's "The Next Best-Dressed List".[13]
In 2000, she posed for Maxim and was featured in their gallery, Girls of Maxim. She was ranked No. 22 and No. 54 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women (2000 and 2001, respectively).[14][15][16]
Chow was in a relationship with actor Mark Wahlberg for four years after meeting on the set of the 1998 film The Big Hit.[11] She was in a relationship with English actor and comedian Steve Coogan from 2007 until 2011.[20][21][22][23] She has also been romantically linked to actor Keanu Reeves. Since February 2018, she has been in a relationship with English musician Billy Idol.[24]
