{"id":123664,"date":"2025-11-09T07:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/123664\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T07:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:50:08","slug":"teen-behind-the-louvre-heist-fedora-man-photo-embraces-his-mystery-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/123664\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen behind the Louvre heist \u2018Fedora Man\u2019 photo embraces his mystery moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS — When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux realized an Associated Press photo of him at the Louvre on the day of the crown jewels heist<\/a> had drawn millions of views, his first instinct was not to rush online and unmask himself. <\/p>\n

Quite the opposite. A fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot who lives with his parents and grandfather in Rambouillet, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Paris, Pedro decided to play along with the world\u2019s suspense. <\/p>\n

As theories swirled about the sharply dressed stranger in the \u201cFedora Man\u201d shot \u2014 detective, insider, AI fake \u2014 he decided to stay silent and watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to say immediately it was me,\u201d he said. \u201cWith this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his only in-person interview since that snap turned him into an international curiosity, he appeared for the AP cameras at his home much as he did that Sunday: in a fedora hat, Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, jacket chosen by his mother, neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers and a restored, war-battered Russian watch. <\/p>\n

The fedora, angled just so, is his homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.<\/p>\n

In person, he is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.<\/p>\n

The image that made him famous was meant to document a crime scene. Three police officers lean on a silver car blocking a Louvre entrance, hours after thieves carried out a daylight raid on French crown jewels<\/a>. To the right, a lone figure in a three-piece suit strides past \u2014 a flash of film noir in a modern-day manhunt.<\/p>\n

The internet did the rest. \u201cFedora Man,\u201d as users dubbed him, was cast as an old-school detective, an inside man, a Netflix pitch \u2014 or not human at all. Many were convinced he was AI-generated.<\/p>\n

Pedro understood why. \u201cIn the photo, I\u2019m dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is a contrast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even some relatives and friends hesitated until they spotted his mother in the background. Only then were they sure: The internet\u2019s favorite fake detective was a real boy.<\/p>\n

The real story was simple. Pedro, his mother and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,\u201d he said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know there was a heist.\u201d <\/p>\n

They asked officers why the gates were shut. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro midstride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the picture was taken, I didn\u2019t know,\u201d Pedro said. \u201cI was just passing through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four days later, an acquaintance messaged: Is that you?<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me there were 5 million views,\u201d he said. \u201cI was a bit surprised.\u201d Then his mother called to say he was in The New York Times. \u201cIt\u2019s not every day,\u201d he said. Cousins in Colombia, friends in Austria, family friends and classmates followed with screenshots and calls. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople said, \u2018You\u2019ve become a star,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The look that jolted tens of millions is not a costume whipped up for a museum trip. Pedro began dressing this way less than a year ago, inspired by 20th-century history and black-and-white images of suited statesmen and fictional detectives. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like to be chic,\u201d he said. \u201cI go to school like this.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a sea of hoodies and sneakers, he shows up in a three-piece suit. And the hat? No, that’s its own ritual. The fedora is reserved for weekends, holidays and museum visits. <\/p>\n

At his no-uniform school, his style has already started to spread. \u201cOne of my friends came this week with a tie,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He understands why people projected a whole sleuth character onto him: improbable heist, improbable detective. He loves Poirot \u2014 \u201cvery elegant\u201d \u2014 and likes the idea that an unusual crime calls for someone who looks unusual. \u201cWhen something unusual happens, you don\u2019t imagine a normal detective,\u201d he said. \u201cYou imagine someone different.\u201d<\/p>\n

That instinct fits the world he comes from. His mother, F\u00e9licit\u00e9 Garzon Delvaux, grew up in an 18th-century museum-palace, daughter of a curator and an artist \u2014 and regularly takes her son to exhibits.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt and museums are living spaces,\u201d she said. \u201cLife without art is not life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Pedro, art and imagery were part of everyday life. So when millions projected stories onto a single frame of him in a fedora beside armed police at the Louvre, he recognized the power of an image and let the myth breathe before stepping forward.<\/p>\n

He stayed silent for several days, then switched his Instagram from private to public. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople had to try to find who I am,\u201d he said. \u201cThen journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is relaxed about whatever comes next. \u201cI\u2019m waiting for people to contact me for films,\u201d he said, grinning. \u201cThat would be very funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a story of theft and security lapses, \u201cFedora Man\u201d is a gentler counterpoint \u2014 a teenager who believes art, style and a good mystery belong to ordinary life. One photo turned him into a symbol. Meeting him confirms he is, reassuringly, real.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a star,\u201d he says \u2014 less brag than experiment, as if he\u2019s trying on the words the way he tries on a hat. \u201cI\u2019ll keep dressing like this. It\u2019s my style.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS — When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux realized an Associated Press photo of him at the Louvre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[78298,29790,127,737,146,122,85,123,46,13596,231,15896,126],"class_list":["post-123664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-78298","tag-apparel-and-accessories-manufacturing","tag-article","tag-crime","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-il","tag-internet","tag-israel","tag-law-enforcement","tag-lifestyle","tag-teens","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}