Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel from USA wore a Moon as her costume; know its significance

R'Bonney Gabriel was crowned the Miss Universe 2022 on January 14 beating Venezuela's Amanda Dudamel (23) and Dominican Republic's Andreína Martínez (25) who were the first and second runner-ups, respectively. The 28-year-old from USA's Houston who was the first Filipina American Miss USA, however, first caught many eyeballs during the Miss Universe 2023 National Costume Show this week when she appeared in an extravagant ensemble. 

Gabriel showed up among the contestants decked in blue, white, and red lights along with silver stars fitted in her outfit. Although what stood out is a model of the Moon above her crown. According to the model, the costume designed by Filipino designer Patrick Isorena is a tribute to her hometown and a celebration of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969 and NASA's new Artemis Program. 

"On July 20, 1969 two US astronauts became the first humans to step foot on the moon accomplishing one of the most remarkable achievements in human history. Fast forward to today and women are involved more than ever in the Artemis program aiming to send the US back to the moon," she captioned her post on Instagram. 

"As a Houston native, where the NASA space center is located, I am proud to be from a city working to send the first female to the moon," she further wrote. Houston is where NASA's Johnson Space Center is and it also has the agency's Mission Control Center for human spaceflight mission and facilities for astronaut training. Gabriel also explained that the costume which weighs around 15 kg is aimed "to inspire women in all spaces across the universe to dream big, shoot for the moon and achieve something out of this world". 

Out of the 80 countries that participated in the Miss Universe contest this year, countries that made it to the top 16 are Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, India, Curacao, Trinidad, Tobago, Peru, Canada, Portugal, South Africa, Laos, Dominican Republic, Australia, Hait and Puerto Rico. Representing India was a 25-year-old Indian architect and model Divita Rai who made it to the top 16 list but fell short of the top 5 contenders.