A 15-year-old French student who became an international internet sensation after being photographed at the Louvre during a major heist has finally revealed his identity. Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux, dressed in vintage 1940s attire complete with a fedora hat, was captured walking past police officers securing the famous museum after thieves conducted a daylight raid on French crown jewels. The image went viral, generating millions of views and countless theories about the mysterious figure's identity.
When Pedro discovered that the Associated Press photograph had drawn massive online attention, his first instinct wasn't to immediately reveal himself. Instead, the teenager from Rambouillet, located 19 miles from Paris, decided to embrace the mystery. "I didn't want to say immediately it was me," Pedro explained during his first in-person interview since the photo went viral. "With this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last." As a fan of detective stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Pedro understood the power of suspense and chose to let the world speculate.
The photograph that launched Pedro to internet fame was originally intended to document a crime scene. Three police officers were blocking a Louvre entrance with their silver car, hours after thieves had successfully carried out their bold daylight robbery of French crown jewels. In the frame, Pedro appears as a lone figure in an elegant three-piece ensemble, walking past the security cordon like a character from a film noir movie. The striking contrast between his vintage appearance and the modern crime scene immediately captured viewers' attention.
Social media users quickly dubbed him "Fedora Man" and began creating elaborate theories about his identity. Many speculated he was an old-school detective investigating the crime, while others suggested he might be an inside accomplice or even a Netflix promotional stunt. Some viewers were so convinced by the surreal nature of the image that they believed Pedro was entirely computer-generated. "In the photo, I'm dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025," Pedro acknowledged. "There is a contrast."
The reality behind the viral moment was much simpler than the internet theories suggested. Pedro had visited the Louvre that Sunday with his mother and grandfather, unaware that any crime had taken place. "We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed," Pedro recalled. "We didn't know there was a heist." When they asked police officers why the museum gates were shut, AP photographer Thibault Camus happened to capture Pedro mid-stride while documenting the security perimeter. "When the picture was taken, I didn't know," Pedro said. "I was just passing through."
Four days after the photograph was taken, Pedro learned about his newfound fame when an acquaintance contacted him. "She told me there were 5 million views," he remembered. "I was a bit surprised." Soon afterward, his mother called to inform him that his image had appeared in The New York Times. The attention quickly snowballed as cousins in Colombia, friends in Austria, family connections, and classmates began sharing screenshots and making calls. "People said, 'You've become a star,'" Pedro recalled. "I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days."
Pedro's distinctive vintage style isn't a costume created specifically for museum visits—it's his everyday fashion choice. He began dressing in this manner less than a year ago, drawing inspiration from 20th-century history and black-and-white photographs of well-dressed statesmen and fictional detectives. "I like to be chic," Pedro explained. "I go to school like this." While his classmates typically wear hoodies and sneakers, Pedro stands out in his interpretation of a three-piece suit. However, the fedora hat holds special significance and is reserved for weekends, holidays, and cultural outings like museum visits.
The teenager's sophisticated style choices are already influencing his peers at his uniform-free school. "One of my friends came this week with a tie," Pedro noted with satisfaction. His fedora, worn at a carefully calculated angle, serves as his personal tribute to Jean Moulin, a hero of the French Resistance during World War II. For his exclusive interview with the Associated Press, Pedro appeared wearing the same type of outfit that made him famous: a fedora hat, an Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, a jacket selected by his mother, a neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers, and a restored Russian watch that bears the scars of war.
Pedro's appreciation for art and culture stems from his family background. 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 Pedro to exhibitions and cultural events, believing that "art and museums are living spaces" and that "life without art is not life." This upbringing in an art-rich environment helped Pedro understand why people projected elaborate stories onto a single photograph and gave him the confidence to let the mystery develop naturally.
After maintaining his silence for several days, Pedro strategically switched his Instagram account from private to public, allowing curious internet users to discover his identity gradually. "People had to try to find who I am," he explained. "Then journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised." Pedro understands why viewers connected his unusual appearance with the improbable heist, creating theories about an equally improbable detective. "When something unusual happens, you don't imagine a normal detective," he reasoned. "You imagine someone different."
Looking toward the future, Pedro remains relaxed about his unexpected fame and its potential opportunities. "I'm waiting for people to contact me for films," he said with a grin. "That would be very funny." Despite his sudden celebrity status, Pedro plans to maintain his distinctive fashion sense. "I'll keep dressing like this. It's my style," he declared. In a story dominated by theft and security failures, the teenager known as "Fedora Man" represents a more positive element—a young person who believes that art, style, and mystery should be part of everyday life.
Pedro's story demonstrates how a single photograph can transform an ordinary moment into an extraordinary cultural phenomenon. While millions of people created elaborate theories about the mysterious figure in the fedora, meeting him confirms he is reassuringly real—a bright, amused teenager who accidentally wandered into a global story. "I'm a star," he says, testing the words like he might try on a new hat, embodying both the confidence and curiosity of youth encountering unexpected fame.
