Devon Edwenna Aoki is a half Japanese-American model and actress.
Aoki grew up in California and London, attending high school at The American School in London. Her Japanese father, the late Hiroaki Aoki, a former Olympic wrestler, was the founder and owner of the Benihana restaurant chain until his death on July 10, 2008. Her mother, Pamela Hilburger, is a jewelry designer of German and English heritage.
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 by her godmother to Kate Moss, who would later take the young model under her wing. She was signed to Storm Model Management at age 14. In 1998, at the age of 16, Aoki replaced Naomi Campbell as the face of Versace.
Aoki has modeled for the fashion houses Lancôme, Chanel, Versace, despite her relatively short height for a runway model. Aoki has done ad campaigns for Chanel Ready-to-Wear, Chanel Couture by Karl Lagerfeld, Versace by Steven Meisel, YSL by Juergen Teller, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Hugo Boss, Moschino, Ungaro, Fendi, Junko Shimada by Bettina Kimenda, Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons, Lancome, Tiffanys and co.
Early on in her career Aoki made cameo appearances in several music videos, including Duran Duran's "Electric Barbarella", Primal Scream's "Kowalski"ect.
Her acting career includes films like 2 Fast 2 Furious, D.E.B.S., Sin City, Dead or Alive, War and Mutant Chronicles. She did not have her driver's license prior to filming 2 Fast 2 Furious and had to learn to drive during filming.
Aoki has joined L.A.'s International Creative Management for representation and The Firm for management. In September 2007, it was announced she was designing jeans line for Levi's, although the line was only available in Asia. Aoki made a return to the runway, walking for the Chanel Pre-Fall 2008 show in London and the couture show in Paris where she was the bride.