Stone was born to a Dutch mother and an English father. She was raised in the Dutch town of Mierlo.

Stone was first approached by an agent in the Paris Metro, at age 12. Stone entered the Elite Model Look contest in 1999, as a 15-year-old. Although she didn't win, she impressed Elite executives and was signed to the Elite Modeling Agency.[citation needed] After years of working as a struggling model, her career took a positive turn when she was signed by IMG in 2006. Soon after, she opened the Givenchy haute couture show in Paris.[citation needed]

She has walked shows for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Lanvin, Miu Miu, Fendi, MaxMara, Pollini, Prada, Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen, Balmain, Celine, Hermès, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Missoni, Emanuel Ungaro, and Victoria's Secret. Stone has opened shows for Giles Deacon, Isabel Marant, Christopher Kane, Fendi, and MaxMara, and closed for Diesel, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Balmain. She has also been a prestigious "semi-exclusive" for Prada, meaning she could not walk any other shows during New York fashion week or any shows in Milan before the Prada show.

Her campaigns include Calvin Klein Make-Up, Calvin Klein Jeans, H&M, Jean Paul Gaultier, Time, DKNY Jeans, Nicole Farhi, Belstaff, CK Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss Orange, De' Type, Revlon, TSUM, Just Cavalli, Max Mara, Malizia by La Perla, Sisley[disambiguation needed], Jil Sander, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vitton, Prada,, Eres, Dsquared, and Givenchy (for 5 consecutive seasons). Her covers include international versions of French, Italian, British, Japanese, and American Vogue, Elle, The Journal, V magazine, i-D, and W alongside Kate Moss and Daria Werbowy. She has appeared in editorials for Italian, French, British, American, Chinese, Japanese, and Men's International Vogue, Interview, W, Harpers Bazaar, V[disambiguation needed], and i-D.

Stone was also photographed alongside Malgosia Bela, Daria Werbowy, Randal Moore, Mariacarla Boscono, Emanuela De Paula, and Isabeli Fontana for the 2009 Pirelli Calendar.

Stone made her American American Vogue debut on the May 2009 cover alongside Liya Kebede, Anna Jagodzinska, Natalia Vodianova, Caroline Trentini, Jourdan Dunn, Raquel Zimmermann, Natasha Poly, and Isabeli Fontana as one of the faces of the moment.

Her trademarks include the gap between her front teeth and her wobbly runway walk, which can be attributed to her size 7 feet, smaller than the regular runway shoe which are size 8-10. In the February 2009 edition of Vogue Paris, which featured Stone on the cover and as the sole model in the magazine, she said she does not like the runway and that her unusually small feet for a person her size do not fit in shoes, and she often thinks, "Do not fall, do not fall."

Stone was featured on the August 2009 cover of W, declaring her the most-wanted face of the moment. Vogue Paris named her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

In the December 2009 issue of British Vogue, Lara Stone admitted undergoing inpatient rehabilitation for alcoholism earlier in the year.

On February 19, 2010, she was tabulated as the world's number-one fashion model on the international modeling site models.com's Top 50 Models Women ranking. She also ranks 10th on the site's "sexiest models" list.