The Real ‘Fedora Man’: Teen Accidentally Becomes Viral Star After Louvre Heist
For weeks after the dramatic Louvre museum heist, one image has captured the internet’s imagination — a young man in a fedora walking past police tape, looking like he’d stepped straight out of a 1940s detective film.
Dubbed “Fedora Man,” he became the face of a thousand theories. Was he a secret agent? A witness? An AI creation?
Now, the mystery has been solved. The sharply dressed stranger is 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux from Rambouillet, a town southwest of Paris. And as it turns out, he just wanted to visit the Louvre with his family. “We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,” Pedro told the Associated Press. “We didn’t know there was a heist.”
He had wandered into a real crime scene on the day thieves made off with the French crown jewels. As police secured the area, an AP photographer snapped a picture — Pedro mid-stride in a three-piece suit and fedora — and the internet did the rest.
“I was a bit surprised,” he said, recalling how a friend sent him a screenshot days later, asking, “Is that you?” When he confirmed it, the friend told him the photo had already racked up five million views on TikTok. Then came another surprise, as his mother called to say the picture was in The New York Times. “It’s not every day you’re in The New York Times.”
Pedro, who describes himself as a fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, had no intention of revealing himself right away. “I didn’t want to say immediately it was me,” he said. “With this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last.”
The mystery was only deepened by his style — a waistcoat, tie, and fedora. “In the photo, I’m dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,” he said. “There is a contrast.”
Pedro says his love of vintage fashion started less than a year ago. “I like to be chic,” he explained. “I go to school like this.” The fedora, however, is special — reserved for weekends, holidays and museum visits.
The teenager’s look and composure sparked endless memes and fan theories, but he understood the fascination. “When something unusual happens, you don’t imagine a normal detective,” he said. “You imagine someone different.”
Pedro says the whole experience has been surreal but fun. “People said, ‘You’ve become a star,’” he laughed. “I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days.”
And he’s already joking about what’s next. “I’m waiting for people to contact me for films,” he said with a grin. “That would be very funny.”
