Rarely does one topic dominate our office kitchen conversations and group chats quite like the Louvre jewel heist has.
Since it happened last month, the quite literal daylight robbery has captured the world's attention, with all eyes on the Louvre heist, the jewels that were stolen, and the suspects who went viral. It's the story that keeps on giving, and just when we thought things had quietened down, a dapperly-dressed figure walked onto the scene and got us all talking again.
Who is the mystery Louvre “fedora man”?
The mystery Louvre “fedora man” has been unmasked as Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux. He was photographed outside the Louvre alongside police, dressed in a three-piece suit and fedora, but it turns out, he has nothing to do with the investigation...and is actually only 15 years old.
Until now, Delvaux's identity has remained a mystery, and his suave get-up had prompted social media users to question whether he was an inside man on the heist, a police investigator, or perhaps an AI-generation. The teen is none of those things, however, and spoke to AP about why he was at the heist scene and, more importantly, why he was dressed like that.
What has the mystery Louvre “fedora man” said?
“We didn't know there was a heist,” the teen told AP, explaining he'd visited the museum with his family for a day out but arrived to find it was closed. Delvaux and his family are from Rambouillet, south-west of Paris, but had somehow avoided news of the Louvre jewel heist and just happened to be there as a photographer was snapping images of the cordon.
Given that Delvaux was unaware the heist had taken place, it's perhaps unsurprising that he didn't realize his image had gone viral, either. It was four days before Delvaux knew of his viral stardom, when a friend sent a screenshot and asked, “Is that you?”
“I was a bit surprised,” the teen told AP of the moment he realized he'd amassed more than five million views on TikTok. Even more surprising that that was Delvaux's discovery that he'd made it into The New York Times. “It's not every day you're in the New York Times,” he said. “I was astonished that with just one photo, you can become viral in a few days.”
Reacting to the speculation that he was somehow involved in the heist investigation or an AI-generation, Delvaux admitted why he purposefully stayed quiet until now. “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.” Smart!
As for why he was dressed so dapper, Delvaux revealed he dresses like that every day. “I like to be chic,” he told AP. “I go to school like this.”
He continued, “I'll keep dressing like this. It's my style,” adding that he's “waiting” for the film contracts to roll in, now he's a “star.”
Well, that's one mystery solved.
