At the Graduate Collections in London he won the Alexander McQueen/American Express Award for Innovation and the Top Shop Collection of the Year Award, followed by a six-month placement with British designer Alexander McQueen.

Yong is also consultant designer at British fashion label Ghost and a freelance designer for high-street chain Top Shop. He's designing two collections a year for both. As if that isn't keeping him busy enough, he's starting to work on his own collection, which he hopes to launch in autumn/winter 2006, and is planning to set up a couple of studios.

'I hope, in a few years' time, to expand the business internationally,' he says. 'I plan to set up a studio in the UK and another in Malaysia. I love London because it's such a great and inspiring city to be in if you're in fashion.

'It's my dream to continue feeding my love and passion for fashion and to become a successful designer. I want to be creating great collections each season, but I'd also like to design accessories. I know I'll appreciate every moment of what lies ahead.'

Yong's love for design can be traced back to his childhood, when he would spend hours watching his seamstress mother cut fabrics for dresses at her shop in Tawau in the East Malaysian state of Sabah. On finishing high school, with the encouragement of his mother, Yong took a three-year pattern-cutting course, which would set him apart from the fray of trainee fashion designers he met in Britain. 'It's crucial for designers to understand pattern-cutting properly,' he says. 'The making of the garment is more important than anything.'

By the time Yong began his master's degree at St Martin's, he already had a first-class honours degree in fashion from Edinburgh College of Art and Design, impressive pattern-cutting abilities, and the enormous benefit of practical experience garnered from working at his aunt's dress-making business outside Edinburgh.

Yong attributes his penchant for hand-stitching and intricate details to his Malaysian roots. 'My mother is my biggest influence,' he says. 'During my childhood, I spent a lot of time with her, watching her make patterns and sew. She taught me so, so much.'

Yong's designs have complicated tailoring, are remarkably detailed and intricately hand-sewn, creating what he calls sexy drama. Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, has called his craftsmanship 'extraordinary'.

Grecian-style drapes of silk jersey and chiffon create fluidity, and batwing sleeves, ruchings, plunging necklines and silk rosettes add femininity to a slick black and flesh-coloured palette. The woman he has in mind for his designs is, he says, 'confident, sophisticated and above all, doesn't have to look beautiful, because the clothes make her look amazing'.

Influences come from far and wide. The drapery, the bias cut and the dramatic silhouettes pay homage to two of his favourite 1920s couturiers: Madeleine Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga.

Yong cites McQueen as a contemporary source of inspiration, understandable since he worked closely with the designer last year. 'I was absolutely honoured to work with McQueen - it was great experience,' he says. 'I learnt so much from him on the creative side as well as how to work as part of a team. He's a really nice, genuine guy.' McQueen is equally complimentary, describing Yong's master's collection as 'very well executed and very modern'.

For now, Yong is on a steep learning curve, thanks to the mentoring sessions he won. He's quietly excited by what he's achieved so far, but the true test will be when he delivers his first collection.