It was in a smoke-filled Burnley nightclub that the first seeds of the international multi-million pound fashion label Red or Dead were sown.

But little did Wayne Hemingway know that winning a bet to get Gerardine Astin’s phone number would be the first step to a long and fruitful future together as husband and wife and business partners.

We met the successful couple from Lancashire as they shared their life story.

I THOUGHT I’d got the wrong address when I arrived at Hemingway Design.

Before me stood not a swanky office building, but a modest semi detached home in a residential area of Wembley, north London. However, when I rang the doorbell I was guided into the Hemingway office — and former family home.

Despite being recognised as fashion and design gurus worth a fortune between them, the couple like to live an ordinary existence, most notably remaining in the same office they used before they had any money, their first family home bought 21 years earlier.

Wayne Hemingway’s route to success began in 1980 on the night he met his wife-to-be. Wayne, then at university in London, was back home on a night out to Angels nightclub, Burnley.

“We were only 19 and 20 when we met,” he recalled. “I was with two mates and we always used to have silly bets, for a fiver or so, and tonight's was first one to get a girl's phone number. I spotted Gerardine with her sister on the dancefloor. I got a DJ request card and wrote on it ‘will you be my angel — what's your phone number.’ I think I rang her the next day. It was just one of those chance things. We got engaged on our first anniversary of meeting, married 12 months after and this year we celebrated 25 years.”

Unlike many in the fashion industry, Wayne and Gerardine do not mix in celebrity circles and do not have any famous friends. Wayne cycles part of the way to work, and anywhere else he can, because he is keen to practise an eco-friendly lifestyle, but mainly because it saves him £8 per day.

“It’s just the way we have both been brought up, not to be wasteful, and we have never changed,” said Blackburn Rovers fan Wayne, who grew up in the town. “We are thrifty. That’s why we have this house as our office still. It suits us. We’re not flash and we love it here.”

With five bedrooms, that the eldest three of their four children now live in, a large garden and patio, and all the home comforts, it’s really an ideal working environment. And who else has the luxury of staying over when it's been a long day or starting the working day wearing your slippers and dressing gown?

They believe the secret to success is old-ashioned hard work. And from the very beginning, they have put in the hours.

Gerardine, originally from Padiham, said: “When we had the market stalls I was sewing at night and working all day on Kensington market and then Camden at weekend, so it was seven-day weeks, then to Blackburn market to get materials.

“One day we got a phone call from Maceys in New York but we’d never heard of them. We’d only been to Europe twice between us so anything American we had no idea. The order was bigger than we could cope with but somebody on the stand next to us said we had better take it. It’s mad really that they wanted us, with our Blackburn market bits and pieces.”

The couple set up production in Roe Lee Mill with Wayne’s mum and Gerardine’s sister running the floor and before they knew it they had stores selling their high street brand in countries all over the world and they had an MBE each.

But 10 years ago it was time for a change and they sold up, opting to run their own fashion consultancy, Hemingway Design. They have joined forces with building firm Wimpey to work on various housing projects across the country, creating full purpose-built villages. The innovative schemes promise to be a shake-up in British housing, something the couple say is desperately needed.

With his wife Wayne, now teetotal, is also responsible for various ranges of products, including camping equipment available from Halfords in the spring and a wallpaper range sold in Blackburn firm Graham and Brown.

But how do they find time for it all?

“I like to get up between 4.45am and 5am every day,” said Wayne, who is also a DJ in his spare time. “Sleep is uninteresting and you don’t need it as much as people think. I worked out I will spend eight years awake more than the average person by having less sleep.

“We work and play hard — always will. We enjoy time at our lovely home a lot. It is on the south coast in Sussex, a mile from a harbour.

"It’s everything you could dream of, designed all by Gerardine.

"It has a swimming pool, tennis courts and is surrounded by woodland.”

But Wayne doesn’t take anything for granted and is as green as he can be when he’s at home. Their house has solar panels, all manner of recycling equipment and you’ll find a hybrid car on the drive.

It is clear to see that Wayne and Gerardine are a winning team and complement each other both personally and professionally.

Wayne said: “Our housing projects are acclaimed internationally, as was Red or Dead’s success in fashion.

"To do that twice is amazing. Lightning rarely strikes twice and we have never really planned for any of it.”