Choo was born in Penang, Malaysia, into a family of shoemakers. His family name is Chow but was misspelled on his birth certificate as Choo. He studied at Shih Chung Primary School in Love Lane, Penang. Choo's father, a shoemaker who made all of his shoes by hand, taught him how to make shoes. Choo made his first pair of shoes when he was 11 years old, a pair of slippers.[3][4] Between 1982 and 1984, Choo studied at Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney (now part of the London College of Fashion) in London, England.[5] He went to a design firm to work after graduation, wishing to remain in London instead of going back to Malaysia