“I went, ‘Yes! It moved!’,” the designer told The Telegraph.
Ms Valentine started making clothes as a way of paying for dancing lessons, but a bad experience at a Starlight Express audition put her off a career on the stage.
Instead, she capitalised on her skills as a dressmaker and went on a pattern-cutting course, where she met Antonia Robinson, a fellow student.
Together, in a south London garage, they started making clothes for their friends as Robinson Valentine.
