Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She began her modeling career after winning a modeling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased. Her first important appearance was the Wonderbra campaign in 1990s. She was also featured in Guess? jeans advertisements. She has also appeared in the Victoria's Secret catalog and Sports Illustrated. She was a member of Thomas Zeumer's Metropolitan Models. Herzigová has also appeared in several movies. In 2006, she was Venus at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Amongst her most recent projects, Herzigová also starred in a fashion art film by Imagine Fashion, called Decadent Control with Roberto Cavalli. It featured fashions by Agent Provocateur and H&M.
She married Tico Torres, the drummer from Bon Jovi, in September 1996, in a lavish wedding attended by, among others, Donald Trump. The couple divorced in June 1998.
On 1 June 2007, Herzigová and her boyfriend, Turinese entrepreneur Gregorio Marsiaj, had a son George, born in Paris. Their second son, Philipe, was born on 13 March 2011.