Mona Tougaard.

Early life

Mona Tougaard was born on 3 April 2002 in Aarhus, Denmark, to a father who is half-Turkish and half-Danish and a Somali-Ethiopian mother, who died when Tougaard was nine. She has two older siblings from her mother’s previous marriage. She was scouted in Aarhus at twelve and, at fifteen, won the Danish round of the Elite Model Look competition before advancing to the global final.

Runway debut and breakout, 2019

Tougaard’s professional career began as a Prada exclusive in 2019, the season Models.com named her a "top newcomer" and "Breakout Star" in its Model of the Year Awards; Vogue reported that she "swept Paris Fashion Week, landing nearly all the city’s key shows" that year. She also appeared in Prada’s advertising short "Anatomy of Romance," directed by Willy Vanderperre.

Cover credits and campaign growth, 2021–2023

Tougaard covered British Vogue in April 2021 and Vogue Italia that August, followed by a Vogue France cover alongside Ugbad Abdi in August 2022 and further British and French Vogue covers in 2023. Her runway workload grew alongside the cover credits: roughly 39 shows in Fall/Winter 2023 and 22 in Spring/Summer 2024, for houses including Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Valentino, Miu Miu, Versace, Burberry and Saint Laurent — she has also closed Lanvin’s show.

Recent record, 2024–2025

In 2024, Tougaard appeared in Chanel’s "Watches and Fine Jewelry Holiday" advertising short and starred in FKA Twigs’s "Perfect Stranger" video, and was nominated for Model of the Year at the Fashion Awards. In May 2025, Models.com added her to its "New Supers" list, and that year she took a lead role in the Alice Winocour–directed film Couture and appeared in Doja Cat’s "Gorgeous" video.

Her current Index Rating reflects continued high-tier runway work in the current window, most recently a place on Models.com’s Model of the Year shortlist and a Best Street Style industry win, detailed in the evidence section below.