Last month’s Louvre crown-jewels heist was a travesty for the French people and their sorely lacking national-security measures but also a delicious pop-culture moment for the rest of us. While rumors flew about the brazen theft, one young man at the scene of the crime wound up stealing the show. A startlingly dapper man was captured by an AP photographer looking on suspiciously near a group of policemen, with a dashing little hat shading half his face. Experts and internet sleuths speculated that the man was a detective in charge of investigating the theft or, alternatively, not a man at all, but an AI-generated image. As it turns out, they were all wrong. Per CNN, the guy TikTok has named Dapper Man is 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux, and yes, he really does always dress like that.
In the wake of the theft, Delvaux has been giving interviews at his home in Rambouillet, 30 miles southwest of Paris. For one thing, he confirmed to CNN that he was not involved in any investigations, nor was he able to locate any of the $102 million worth of stolen jewels. Most importantly, he is aware that he has immaculate taste. His obsession with ’40s-era fashion began a year ago, he explained, after he dressed as World War II French resistance hero Jean Moulin for carnival celebrations. From there, he discovered his style icon in fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. “For me, it’s important to dress classic. And I like to dress like that because I love history, especially the 20th century,” he said.
On that fateful day in October, Delvaux had planned to spend the day at the Louvre with his mother and grandfather. But by the time they arrived, the museum was closed and surrounded by police. As they attempted to form a new plan, the journalist photographing the crime scene caught Delvaux on camera. Per the AP, Delvaux happened to be wearing his father’s Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat, Tommy Hilfiger trousers, and a vintage Soviet watch that he bought in an antique store in Calcutta and later repaired with parts that he and his dad sourced from Bulgaria. That may sound like a lot, but it’s light work for Delvaux, who commissioned his first tailored suit at the age of 12 during a year spent in Bangladesh. “I like to be chic,” he told the outlet of his style. “I go to school like this.”
Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››
“He realized the effect he had on other people,” his mother, Félicité Garzon Delvaux, told CNN. “Everyone looked impressed. Okay, something is happening there.”
Apparently, Delvaux doesn’t own a pair of sweatpants and will only stoop to cargo pants if he really needs to dress casually. He’s too busy cultivating a vibe. “Yeah, I think I have a lot of aura,” he told CNN, correctly.
While Delvaux’s future is clearly bright, he’s not locked into a career path just yet. He’s interested in following in his father’s footsteps and pursuing diplomacy, or maybe joining the military like his grandfather. (He likes the uniform.) Perhaps an internship at Dior might better suit him. In the meantime, the 15-year-old said he’s ready and available for Hollywood producers to start contacting him for films. “That would be very funny,” he says. Why? Well, because, Delvaux explains, “I’m a star.”
