PARIS – When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux discovered that an Associated Press photo of him at the Louvre on the day of the crown jewels heist had drawn millions of views online, his first instinct wasn’t to rush forward and reveal his identity. Quite the opposite.
A fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Pedro lives with his parents and grandfather in Rambouillet, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Paris. Rather than dispel the whirlwind of speculation, he decided to play along with the world’s suspense. As theories about the sharply dressed stranger in the now-famous “Fedora Man” photo swirled — was he a detective, an insider, or even an AI-generated fake? — Pedro simply stayed silent and watched.
“I didn’t want to say immediately it was me,” he explained. “With this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last.”
### From Photo to Fame
For his only in-person interview since the photo turned him into an international curiosity, Pedro appeared for AP cameras at his home dressed much as he was that fateful Sunday: a fedora hat in homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin, an Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, a jacket chosen by his mother, a neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers, and a restored Russian watch with its own history. In person, Pedro is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.
The image that made him famous was meant simply to document a crime scene. Three police officers lean on a silver car blocking a Louvre entrance, hours after a daring daylight raid on French crown jewels. To the right, a lone figure in a three-piece ensemble strides past — a flash of film noir in a modern-day manhunt.
The internet did the rest. Dubbed “Fedora Man” by social media users, Pedro was cast in online theories as a detective, an inside man, a Netflix character, or even an AI creation. Many were convinced he wasn’t real.
Pedro understood the confusion. “In the photo, I’m dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,” he said. “There is a contrast.”
Even some relatives and friends were unsure — until they spotted his mother in the background. Only then were they convinced: the internet’s favorite “fake detective” was a real boy.
### The Real Story: A Family Day Out
The truth was remarkably simple. Pedro, his mother, and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre. “We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,” he recalled. “We didn’t know there was a heist.” They had just asked officers why the gates were shut when AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro midstride.
“When the picture was taken, I didn’t know,” he said. “I was just passing through.”
Four days later, an acquaintance messaged him: Was that you? “She told me there were 5 million views,” Pedro said. “I was a bit surprised.” Then, his mother called to say he was famous. Cousins in Colombia, friends in Austria, family friends, and classmates followed with screenshots and calls.
“People said, ‘You’ve become a star,’” he said. “I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days.”
### Inspired Style, Iconic Look
The look that captured tens of millions of imaginations isn’t a costume. Pedro began experimenting with this style less than a year ago, inspired by 20th-century history and black-and-white photographs of suited statesmen and fictional detectives.
“I like to be chic,” he said. “I go to school like this.” While most students wear hoodies and sneakers, Pedro consistently shows up in a riff on the three-piece suit. The fedora, however, is reserved for weekends, holidays, and museum visits — never for everyday.
At his no-uniform school, his distinct style is already catching on. “One of my friends came this week with a tie,” he admitted with a laugh.
Pedro understands why people projected an entire detective persona onto him: the improbable heist paired with an improbable detective. He loves Poirot, describing the beloved character as “very elegant,” and likes the idea that extraordinary crimes call for someone truly unusual.
“When something unusual happens, you don’t imagine a normal detective,” he explained. “You imagine someone different.”
### Art, Mystery, and Everyday Life
That instinct fits the world he comes from. His mother, Félicité Garzon Delvaux, grew up in an 18th-century museum-palace as the daughter of a curator and an artist. She regularly takes her son to exhibitions and museums. “Art and museums are living spaces,” she said. “Life without art is not life.”
For Pedro, art and imagery have always been part of daily life. So, when millions projected a story onto a single image of him in a fedora beside armed police at the Louvre, he recognized the power of an image — and let the myth grow before stepping forward. After several days of silence, he finally switched his Instagram from private to public.
“People had to try to find who I am,” he said with a smile. “Then journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised.”
He’s relaxed about what comes next. “I’m waiting for people to contact me for films,” he said, grinning. “That would be very funny.”
### Myth and Reality
In a story filled with theft and security lapses, “Fedora Man” is a gentler counterpoint: a teenager who believes that art, style, and a little mystery belong in everyday life. A single photo turned Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux into a global symbol, but meeting him confirms he is, reassuringly, very real.
“I’m a star,” he says — less as a boast and more as an experiment, as if trying on those words as he might try on a hat. “I’ll keep dressing like this. It’s my style.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/09/teen-louvre-mystery-photo/