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A leading fashion writer who had ­recently sold her well-known Savile Row magazine was killed when she was struck by a moped in Holloway in the early hours of Saturday.

It is believed Marie Scott, 75, had attended an exclusive West End party and had just come off a night bus in Parkhurst Road when the ­collision occurred around 2.40am.

Eric Moonman, her neighbour of 40 years and a former Labour MP, said: “It is such a massive shame, particularly because she was a committed person. She was strong and tough and her travels used to amaze me.

“She had been to Vietnam just three months ago and two other countries. She was not retired at all. She was in demand right up until the end.”

Ms Scott, a specialist in the menswear and luxury sector, had recently sold her last ­venture, Savile Row Style Magazine, to a new owner. She died at the accident scene – a stone’s throw from her home in Beacon Hill.

Mr Moonman’s wife Gillian added: “I read an obituary that said she was elderly. She was the least elderly lady I knew. She used to have blue streaks in her hair and she was just very trendy.”

The driver of the moped, a man in his mid-twenties, was taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Police are investigation the collision. There have been no arrests.

Ms Scott was editor of Savile Row Style Magazine for 16 years, contributing her last piece earlier this year, before handing over to managing director Stewart Lee.

“This is a big loss to Savile Row,” he told the Tribune. “It came as such a shock and we were deeply saddened when we heard the news.”

Mr Lee said he had received emails from top names in Savile Row expressing their condolences. “She was so full of life and vivacious,” he added. “She was a loyal and passionate advocate for Savile Row and bespoke tailoring. I used to call her ‘Ms Savile Row’”.

Speaking from the Beacon Hill home yesterday (Thursday), Cathy Dorell, Ms Scott’s niece, described her aunt as a “fantastic and vibrant lady”. The journalist had two lodgers living with her and was known to walk her dog in Caledonian Park in the mornings.

Mr Moonman said Ms Scott was an active resident who got involved in local issues. She had played a key role in attempts to protect the Hillmarton conservation area.

Ms Scott is believed to have trained as a milliner before becoming associated with John Taylor, the legendary editor of The Tailor and Cutter magazine. They worked together from the early 1960s until Mr Taylor’s death in December 2003 and became life partners as well as business partners. The couple did not have any children.

They left The Tailor and Cutter in the early 1970s and published a series of titles promoting bespoke tailoring, British luxury goods, travel and fine living, including Style Magazine. For a short time in the 1980s she was editor of Men’s Wear.

French House in Soho was a favourite hangout for the couple, close to the old offices of The Tailor and Cutter. They were part a dining club called The Old Devils, which included the former editor of industry bible Drapers.

Former editorial director of Drapers Eric Musgrave said: “Marie and John were real champions for British exports abroad. Both of them lived life to the full and loved the finer things in life. Marie kept her joy for life right until the end.”

Ms Scott’s funeral will be held on June 1 at a place to be confirmed.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward and are particularly keen to speak to the driver of a dark-coloured Toyota Prius who stopped to assist the injured parties but left on arrival of the ambulance and before police attended.

While not involved in the collision, the driver is likely to have useful information about the circumstances surrounding the accident, the Met said.

A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. An inquest opened at St Pancras Coroner’s Court yesterday.

Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 020 8991 9555 or the police non-emergency line on 101.