Since the infamous Louvre heist, where thieves disguised as construction workers stole eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels, a photo of a sharply dressed stranger, dubbed “Fedora Man” by the internet, has been a source of considerable intrigue. From speculations of him being a high-level detective to an AI-generated addition, there have been all kinds of theories. It turns out that it could not be further from the truth.
Fedora Man near Louvre Heist identified
It turns out that the Fedora Man, whom fans had assumed to be many things, was nothing more than a 15-year-old boy named Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux. A fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot from Rambouillet, west of Paris, Pedro decided to play the charade of being a mystery man online after realizing that his chance appearance had gone viral.
“I didn’t want to say immediately it was me,” he told AP. “With this photo, there is a mystery, so you have to make it last,” he added. He appeared before the camera for AP once again this Sunday, wearing a fedora hat, where he explained what had happened and how he came to be the curious figure that had the internet abuzz.
“In the photo, I’m dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,” he said, “There is a contrast.”
The story of this photograph is relatively simple. Pedro, his mother, and his grandfather had come to visit the Louvre. “We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,” he explained, “We didn’t know there was a heist.” After asking the officers why the famous venue was shit, a photographer caught Pedro midstride, which eventually snowballed into a huge debate.
“When the picture was taken, I didn’t know,” he revealed, “I was just passing through.” Four days later, an acquaintance messaged him about the photo, which had amassed millions of views. “People said, ‘You’ve become a star,’” Pedro said. “I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days,” he added.
As for the get-up, it seems that’s what Pedro usually dresses like. “I like to be chic,” he said, “I go to school like this.” He added, “I’ll keep dressing like this. It’s my style.”
