Padma Lakshmi and her daughter Krishna recently gave a candid peek into their mother-daughter fashion dynamic during their Vogue India cover feature for September 2025. At 15, Krishna is navigating her teenage style while Padma is experiencing perimenopause, yet the two share a surprisingly blunt approach to evaluating each other’s outfits.
Krishna explained that they follow a “five-second rule”: if someone can’t change an outfit within five seconds and it’s not working, they don’t comment immediately. But before leaving the house, the reviews get brutally honest. Krishna shared, “We go by the five-second rule. If the other person can’t change [their outfit] in five seconds and [the comment] is negative, don’t say it. But before we leave the house, we’re pretty brutal with each other. I will be like, ‘You can’t wear that in public with me.’”
Padma added that her daughter often urges her to dress more provocatively, while Krishna insisted her mother gives her the opposite advice. Despite their occasional fashion debates, Krishna is constantly drawn to Padma’s wardrobe, treating it like a “time capsule of fashion.” One memorable incident involved Krishna sneaking Padma’s gold wedding bangles to school in sixth grade—much to Padma’s exasperation.
Their playful, honest, and occasionally chaotic wardrobe interactions reveal not just their love for fashion, but also the close bond they share, where style becomes a bridge between mother and daughter.
