The purpose of this study is to examine the fashion characteristics of fashion magazine cover by comparing and analyzing the formative characteristics of fashion, visual design characteristics and illustration vocabulary on the cover of 3 fashion magazines. The data analysis criteria consisted of the formative elements of fashion (fashion design element, fashion coordination element) and visual design element (color, illustration lexical layout, model photograph type). Data analysis methods were statistical analysis, stepwise lexical analysis, and content analysis. The results of the study are as follows. First, the formative characteristics of fashion on the cover of fashion magazines show that ELLE is a feminine and elegant characteristics, VOGUE is a modern, chic and mannish characteristics, and W is avant-garde and neutral characteristics. Second, visual design characteristics on the cover of fashion magazines, ELLE and VOGUE use modern and simple modern sensibility by using monotonous background color and background color number, and W showed original image characteristic by using various colors. Third, as a result of the illustration lexical analysis on the cover of fashion magazines, 4 core keywords of trend, star, event, and life appeared in 3 magazines in common. Elle differentiates by innovation, Vogue by discrimination, W by reconstruction.