How Old Is Emily Ratajkowski's Son? Age in 2026

The Short Answer: One Son, Age 5

Emily Ratajkowski has one child: her son Sylvester Apollo ‘Sly’ Bear, born on March 8, 2021. He is 5 years old as of October 2026. His father is Ratajkowski’s ex-husband, film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, whom she married in 2018 and divorced in 2022.

Sly has grown up largely out of the spotlight. Ratajkowski shares occasional glimpses — a fifth-birthday post in March 2026, Mother’s Day photos, a rare public outing in Rome in September 2026 — but she has been deliberate about not turning him into content. The exception came in April 2026, when mother and son starred together in a Chanel Fine Jewelry Mother’s Day campaign, Sly’s first modeling job.

Below is the full verified picture: Sly’s birth in March 2021, the dad and the divorce, the 2026 Chanel moment, the Rome outing and the new book, and Ratajkowski’s own words on single motherhood.

Sly’s Birth: March 8, 2021

Ratajkowski announced Sly’s birth on March 11, 2021, three days after he arrived. “Sylvester Apollo Bear has joined us earth side,” she wrote on Instagram alongside an intimate photo of herself breastfeeding the newborn. “Sly arrived 3/8/21 on the most surreal, beautiful, and love-filled morning of my life.” The name — Sylvester Apollo Bear — was instantly one of the most talked-about celebrity baby names of the year.

The pregnancy had been announced in October 2020 with a Vogue cover shoot and a personal essay in which Ratajkowski wrote about refusing to impose gender stereotypes on her child: “We like to respond that we won’t know the gender until our child is 18 and that they’ll let us know then.” The essay set the tone for how she would parent in public — on her own terms, and in her own words.

Sly turned 5 in March 2026, which Ratajkowski marked with Instagram photos of her son — now old enough, by all accounts, to steal the show in a Chanel campaign.

The Dad: Sebastian Bear-McClard

Sebastian Bear-McClard, a film producer known for Uncut Gems and Good Time, is Sly’s father. He and Ratajkowski married in a surprise courthouse ceremony in February 2018, just weeks after their relationship became public. For four years they were one of New York’s most photographed young couples — until the marriage ended.

The couple separated in 2022, with reports at the time citing alleged infidelity on his part, and their divorce was finalized later that year. Since then, Ratajkowski has raised Sly as a single mother, writing extensively about the experience — most recently in a highly personal essay for The Cut about dating, identity and motherhood after divorce.

In September 2026, Ratajkowski went public with a new relationship: French director Romain Gavras, previously linked to Dua Lipa and Rita Ora. The couple confirmed the romance on Instagram in February 2026 and were photographed with Sly in Rome that September — a rare family-style public outing for the 5-year-old.

April 2026: The Chanel Campaign

On April 27, 2026, Ratajkowski debuted a Chanel Fine Jewelry Mother’s Day campaign on Instagram starring herself and her 5-year-old son — Sly’s modeling debut and Ratajkowski’s first known partnership with Chanel Fine Jewelry. Dressed in white pants and a crisp button-down, Sly ran, played and posed beside his mother, who layered Chanel watches, necklaces and rings over jeans and a blazer.

She captioned the post: “Never ever too much. Happy Mother’s Day from Sly, @chanelofficial and me.” The campaign’s voiceover captured a tender exchange in which Ratajkowski prompted Sly with his go-to term of endearment, “never too much” — a nod to the 1981 Luther Vandross hit. For a mother who has kept her son largely off-camera, the campaign was a deliberate statement: motherhood is now central to how Ratajkowski presents herself publicly.

The Chanel partnership capped a busy brand stretch. Earlier in 2026 she fronted Gucci’s Beauty and the Bag campaign alongside Kate Moss and starred in Lounge’s Fall 2025 campaign with her own “Emily’s Edit” collection.

September 2026: Rome, and the Book Deal

September 2026 brought two headlines. First, the Rome outing: Ratajkowski was photographed strolling hand-in-hand through the Italian capital with boyfriend Romain Gavras, 45, and 5-year-old Sly — a sun-soaked, affectionate family appearance that offered a glimpse of how the model is balancing romance and single motherhood.

Second, the book deal: a 12-publisher bidding war ended with Penguin Press acquiring Mother F*cker, her forthcoming book about modern female identity, single motherhood and dating. The project follows her 2021 essay collection My Body, a New York Times bestseller. The deal was seeded by a June 2026 essay tracing her “compulsive dating” period after her marriage ended — material she has called “doing it for the plot.”

Taken together, the two September stories tell one story: at 35, Ratajkowski has turned the messiest chapter of her life into the material of her second act — with Sly, now 5, at the center of it.

Ratajkowski on Motherhood

Ratajkowski has written more thoughtfully about motherhood than almost any model of her generation. In the 2020 Vogue pregnancy essay she argued against forcing “gender-based preconceptions onto people, let alone babies,” asking instead: “Who will this person be? What kind of person will we become parents to?”

After the divorce she went further. In a 2026 essay for The Cut about sex, dating and identity as a single mother, she wrote about the condescending way people looked at her in the wake of the breakup — and about rebuilding herself on purpose. Motherhood, in her telling, is not a pause in the story but the engine of it: the Chanel campaign, the book, the public romance all orbit the fact that she is raising a 5-year-old boy.

As of October 2026, the picture is a happy one: a 5-year-old starting to appear — carefully, on his mother’s terms — in the public life of one of fashion’s most-watched mothers.

Sly’s Story: A Timeline

February 2018: Ratajkowski marries film producer SebastianBear-McClard in a surprise courthouse ceremony, weeks after theirrelationship becomes public. October 2020: she announces the pregnancywith a Vogue cover shoot and a personal essay — released with a LenaDunham-directed video — in which she writes about refusing to imposegender stereotypes on her child: the couple, she says, won’t know thegender until the child is 18 and tells them.

March 8, 2021:Sylvester Apollo Bear is born; Ratajkowski announces it on March 11with an intimate breastfeeding photo and the words “Sly arrived 3/8/21on the most surreal, beautiful, and love-filled morning of my life.”2022: the couple separates amid reports of infidelity on his part, andthe divorce is finalized later that year. Ratajkowski begins raisingSly as a single mother in New York City — and starts writing aboutit.

March 2026: Sly turns 5, celebrated with Instagram photos.April 27, 2026: mother and son debut the Chanel Fine Jewelry Mother’sDay campaign — his modeling debut and her first partnership withChanel Fine Jewelry. September 2026: the Rome outing with boyfriendRomain Gavras, whose relationship with Ratajkowski was confirmed thatFebruary; and Penguin Press acquires ‘Mother F*cker,’ her book onsingle motherhood and dating, after a 12-publisher biddingwar.

Five years after that Vogue essay, the throughline holds: achild being raised on his mother’s terms, in public only when shechooses it. As of October 2026, Sly is 5 — old enough for a Chanelcampaign, young enough that his mom still controls the camera.

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