The First Asian American Woman Just Won Miss Texas USA

Each year, beauty pageant contestants compete for two different yet coveted Miss Texas pageant titles. This past weekend, participants competed in Houston to win Miss Texas USA.

R'Bonney Gabriel, a Filipina American fashion designer from Bayou City, won the title just one week after Averie Bishop was crowned the first Asian American Miss America Texas.

Now, for the first time ever, the current Miss Texas titleholders are both AAPI women.

If you're confused about the difference between the two different Miss Texas titles, here's how it works.

The Miss Texas USA system that Gabriel just won is under the Miss Universe umbrella, so she will move on to represent the state in the Miss USA pageant later this year.

If she wins, she can compete for Miss Universe, whereas Bishop will only move on to compete in the separate Miss America competition.

The model, who goes by the name of R'Bonney Nola on social media, is a self-proclaimed "eco-friendly" fashion designer, and she even made and wore some of her own designs at the show this weekend.

She owns an "eco-conscious" fashion label named R'Bonney Nola and specializes in sustainable design methods for gowns, casual wear and T-shirts.

With a Filipino father and a Texan mother, the Houstonian is also a sewing teacher for the local non-profit design house Magpies & Peacocks, which has the mission of maintaining sustainability in art spaces.

The University of North Texas graduate shares her design process on her Instagram and TikTok accounts; however, she'll be spending some more time showing off her journey as Miss Texas USA now, too.