As Paris finishes hosting Fashion Week, Balenciaga, Dior and Chanel are not the ones stealing the show. The biggest new trend that could rear its head in the United States is actually unexpected: bedbugs.
Bedbugs have been on the rise in France ever since the 1990s, but new data reveals the problem has become much larger than previously thought.
"You have to understand that in reality no one is safe. Obviously there are risk factors but, in reality, you can catch bedbugs anywhere and bring them home," deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told French TV station LCI.
ANSES, a government agency that analyzes health risks, discovered one in 10 French households contained bedbugs between 2017 and 2022.
"The upsurge in bedbug infestations in recent years has been due in particular to the rise in travel and the increasing resistance of bed bugs to insecticides," the agency said in its July report.
And as social media posts show, the bedbugs are back with a vengeance, occupying seats on trains along with movie theaters and airports.
As tens of thousands of visitors crowd Paris for the culmination of the city's Fashion Week, many are worried the bedbugs will follow tourists back home to the United States and go on a rampage of American homes as well.
French transport minister Clement Beaune announced that he was speaking to transit operators last week as he aims to control the spread of the pests.
Paris' public transport network, the RATP, also announced that any trains with bedbugs were taken out of service for treatment, but there are concerns over just how fast the insects can spread through trains and planes and inevitably across nations.
Recent social media videos even have experts a bit concerned about the potentially widespread nature of the bugs.
"In large urban cities, bedbugs are just there. It's a fact of life," Zachary DeVries, an assistant professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky, told The New York Times. "But some of the videos of things they're showing—especially on public transportation—were a little bit alarming. Usually if you're seeing bed bugs out in the middle of the day crawling around on these surfaces, you probably have a lot of them."
Three years ago, France launched a bedbug campaign, creating an emergency hotline for all those dealing with the pests. But now it appears the pests are back once again, and an influx of travelers is creating concerns the spread is just starting.
"The state urgently needs to put an action plan in place against this scourge as France is preparing to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2024," Gregoire has said.
Fashion insiders are experiencing the bedbugs firsthand, even at upscale establishments one might not expect to see the insects.
"Whoever is having FOMO about this Paris Fashion Week must know that one of my editor friends saw bedbugs at one particularly upscale restaurant today and apparently, her colleagues are sharing the wildest stories about their own sightings. We go from there," fashion journalist Mayra Peralta posted on X, formerly Twitter, this week.
Meanwhile, X user @LouisPisano shared: "The airport now too... Paris about to be ground zero for a new pandemic."
How Bedbugs Spread
Bedbugs have been wreaking havoc on households since they were first discovered in the early Egyptian and Roman times and the Middle Ages.
They multiply quickly and feed off warm-blooded animals as they sleep, including humans.
Typical bites appear like red or blue welts. While a bite won't typically lead to other health problems, it will itch and the insects can easily spread across an entire home or even to other places you visit away from your house.
They don't discriminate based on household, either. The ANSES report found there was no link between the level of income and the likelihood of falling victim to an infestation.
According to scientists, bedbugs are able to spread so easily because they lay hundreds of eggs at one time. All they need is relative darkness, warmth and blood.
They hide in mattresses and headboards before running rampant at night and leaving a spree of bites on all those unlucky enough to become their victims.
Getting rid of them is not easy, but experts recommend freezing or heating the bugs to death by adjusting your thermostat to uncomfortable levels. You'll also need to thoroughly clean your home before getting rid of them for good.
Unfortunately, the cost of treatment can be high, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the size of the infestation and home.
Those visiting France are encouraged to avoid sitting down on public transport and store their luggage in the bathtub in order to avoid bringing the bugs back home.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Suzanne Blake is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on consumer and social trends, spanning ... Read more
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