Every year in late September, when fashionistas flock to Paris for Fashion Week, they envision enjoying buttery croissants after the shows and guilt-free packs of Vogue cigarettes at the after-parties. But this season, things are a little different: Paris is infested with bedbugs.
Videos shared on social media show bedbugs crawling on seats in the Paris metro, which carries more than five million passengers a day. Some Parisians have also reported being bitten by bedbugs at a major cinema chain. French meme accounts are abuzz. “We need to understand that the reality is that no one is safe. Of course there are risk factors, but the reality is that you can catch a bedbug anywhere and bring it home,” Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Friday.
While Parisians don’t seem too worried about the infestation of bedbugs (the subway, bars, and cinemas are as crowded as ever), at the Paris Fashion Week shows, attendees are trading tips for avoiding bedbugs, like storing your luggage in the bathtub, avoiding upholstered seats on public transport, and buying $220 bedbug-repelling heaters on Amazon.
Bedbugs are common urban pests that live in mattresses, carpets, clothing, and linens, usually coming out at night to feed (i.e. drink blood). Bedbugs usually bite in a distinctive zigzag pattern, leaving three to five bite marks on the skin that cause itching, redness, swelling, and a burning sensation. In big cities like New York, encountering bedbugs is so common that the New York Department of Health has a bedbug complaint hotline.
“In big cities, bed bugs are there; it’s a fact of life,” says Zachary DeVries, an assistant professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky, “but some of the videos they put out were a little worrying, especially the ones taken on public transportation. Typically, if you see bed bugs crawling on these surfaces during the day, there’s probably a lot of them.”
Rumors and gossip have taken on a life of their own during Paris Fashion Week about which hotels, restaurants and bars may be infested with the pests.
“If you’re feeling FOMO over Paris Fashion Week, you’ll surely know that one of my editor friends saw bedbugs in a particularly upscale restaurant today.” Tweeted Mayra Peralta, fashion and beauty editor at EnVi Media. Just the thought that Avenue Montaigne might be crawling with tiny, blood-sucking insects is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
Bedbugs are a democratizing force, an unwelcome reminder that no one, regardless of wealth, fame, or influence, is immune to the forces of nature. After all, they are just as likely to make their home in a Chanel tweed jacket as in a Zara knockoff. They don’t care if you stay in a palace hotel or a one-star Airbnb, whether you dine in the 8th or 18th arrondissement. Sure, you can’t afford the metro, but you might still have to fly home via Charles de Gaulle airport, where bedbugs are reportedly found.
As Paris Fashion Week draws to a close and the editors, influencers and stylists who descended on the capital start to head home, DeVries says it’s possible travellers could bring bedbugs home with them, but as long as they’re aware of their surroundings and don’t leave their luggage or clothes on hotel beds or rugs, they’re safe.
If you think you’ve brought a hitchhiker home, follow the heat or freeze rule: Put the clothes in the dryer on high heat for an hour, or leave them in the freezer for 2-3 days. Either method should get rid of any remaining pests.
Bedbugs multiply quickly, making them very expensive to eradicate. Professor DeVries says that infestations can require the services of a professional pest control company, which can cost more than $5,000 in some locations. “Anyone can get bedbugs, but only a few people can get rid of them,” he says.
