PARIS — When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux discovered an Associated Press photograph of him at the Louvre had gone viral amidst a high-profile jewel heist, his reaction was anything but predictable. Instead of revealing his identity to the world, he chose to embrace the mystery.

An avid fan of literary detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Pedro lives with his family in Rambouillet, approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Paris. Captivated by the intrigue surrounding the “Fedora Man” — the sharply dressed figure speculated to be a detective, an insider, or even an AI-generated image — Pedro opted to remain silent and observe the growing suspense.

“I didn’t want to immediately reveal it was me,” Pedro explained. “This photo has created a mystery, and mysteries are meant to linger.”

In his first in-person interview since becoming an international enigma, Pedro presented himself to AP cameras in the same attire that sparked curiosity that Sunday. Sporting a fedora hat, a Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, a jacket chosen by his mother, a neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers, and a vintage Russian watch he had restored himself, he looked every bit the part of a young sleuth.

The fedora, strategically tilted, serves as a tribute to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin, reflecting Pedro’s deep appreciation for history and intrigue.

The fedora, angled just so, is his homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.

In person, he is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.

From photo to fame

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. 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. “Fedora Man,” as users dubbed him, was cast as an old-school detective, an inside man, a Netflix pitch – or not human at all. Many were convinced he was AI-generated.

Pedro understood why. “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 hesitated until they spotted his mother in the background. Only then were they sure: The internet’s favorite fake detective was a real boy.

The real story was simple. Pedro, his mother and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre.

“We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,” he said. “We didn’t know there was a heist.”

They asked officers why the gates were shut. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro midstride.

“When the picture was taken, I didn’t know,” Pedro said. “I was just passing through.”

Four days later, an acquaintance messaged: Is that you?

“She told me there were 5 million views,” he said. “I was a bit surprised.” Then his mother called to say he was in The New York Times. “It’s not every day,” he said. 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.”

An inspired style

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.

“I like to be chic,” he said. “I go to school like this.”

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

At his no-uniform school, his style has already started to spread. “One of my friends came this week with a tie,” he said.

He understands why people projected a whole sleuth character onto him: improbable heist, improbable detective. He loves Poirot – “very elegant” – and likes the idea that an unusual crime calls for someone who looks unusual. “When something unusual happens, you don’t imagine a normal detective,” he said. “You imagine someone different.”

That instinct fits the world he comes from. His mother, Félicité Garzon Delvaux, grew up in an 18th-century museum-palace, daughter of a curator and an artist – and regularly takes her son to exhibits.

“Art and museums are living spaces,” she said. “Life without art is not life.”

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.

He stayed silent for several days, then switched his Instagram from private to public.

“People had to try to find who I am,” he said. “Then journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised.”

He is relaxed about whatever comes next. “I’m waiting for people to contact me for films,” he said, grinning. “That would be very funny.”

In a story of theft and security lapses, “Fedora Man” is a gentler counterpoint – 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.

“I’m a star,” he says – less brag than experiment, as if he’s trying on the words the way he tries on a hat. “I’ll keep dressing like this. It’s my style.”