THE BROWN AGE.

Byline: Story by Barbara De Witt Photos by John McCoy

Slinky dresses of mocha velvet and champagne-colored ball gowns. Camel peacoats, golden brown tweeds, chocolatey suede skirts, bronze blouses, accents of metallic lace and tufts of topaz-tinted feathers.

Welcome to the Browns Age in fashion.

The latest '70s fad to make a comeback, brown has been refined, redefined and reinvented, say designers, from Chanel to Calvin Klein to Liz Claiborne, who showed plenty of it in their fall previews.

The tones varied, but the overall effect was elegant, long and lean with a hip, '90s attitude, so forget the hippie beads and Birkenstocks.

At Chanel, designer Karl Lagerfeld used hues of beige, brown and russet, scoffing at convention by combining brocade and lame with tweeds - for daywear.

Calvin Klein, in his fall preview report, heralds the upcoming season as a ``return to dark, rich colors that flow together almost imperceptibly in the manner of American abstract expressionists Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt.'' He mixes sable and slate, accents chocolate with plum and calls it a ``modern way of color-blocking.''

Liz Claiborne calls brown essential - but never basic - when interpreted in complementary hues, ranging from espresso to chocolate to mocha and paired with pumpkin.

At the annual trend forecast by the Fashion Association held in New York, everybody was singing the browns. Sears spokesman Ken Walters predicted fall to be a season of tonal dressing, focusing on taupes, browns and camel, as well as that new-again classic, khaki. Others, including trend analyst Leon Hall, went so far as to call camel the new neutral. ``It goes with everything from gray to plaid.'' said Hall.

Leatice Eiseman, president of the Seattle-based Pantone Color Institute, agrees that this is the year for brown.

According to Eiseman, whose company routinely polls the public about color choices, brown usually gets a negative response and only comes into vogue about every 20 or 30 years.

``Although Christian Dior made it chic when he paired it with black in his New Look collection in the late '50s, it's usually tied to social issues like ecology and a dipping economy,'' said Eiseman, adding then when people worry about either, they go back to basics like beige and brown and somehow feel more secure.

The color expert said brown was last seen in the '70s when the ``natural'' or earthy look was in vogue, but in the '90s it's more sophisticated. For instance, said Eiseman, if you wear a brown suit to a job interview this year or next, you'll come across as trustworthy, politically savvy and fashion conscious, especially with the right hair and makeup.

Yes, even cosmetic companies are on a brown binge.

Painting a romantic face much like a vintage sepia-toned portrait, Chanel has launched a new cosmetic line with a coppery-gold nail lacquer called Metal Roux, while Yves Saint Laurent went darker with Silent Brown lacquer, and North Hollywood-based OPI cosmetics came up with an ultra-gold shade of polish called Gold Digger's Delight.

Look at the the Lancome counter and you'll see Brunelle lipstick, and over at Prescriptives are mica-infused lipsticks with names like Mattina Copper. Drugstore brands such as L'Oreal have entered the Browns Age with Hip Honey and Brown Sugar lipsticks, and Maybelline has introduced a cheek color this month called Sugared Bronze.

Even brown hair is making a comeback. Supermodel Linda Evangelista sported spicy brown hair on the runways at fall fashion previews, and numerous celebs have followed. According to a report from Clairol hair products, recent converts include Ashley Judd, Tori Spelling, Drew Barrymore, Elizabeth Berkley, Courtney Love, Cybill Shepherd and Sarah Jessica Parker.

It may not have the staying power of black or the seriousness of navy, but brown is bound to be around for the next two or three years, and probably into the millennium, Eiseman predicted. Based on the results of her most recent poll, brown will become popular in interior design as well as clothing, so start rethinking dark kitchen cabinets and beige carpeting.

CAPTION(S):

10 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) She felt like the heroine in a romance novel in her dreamy champagne-colored gown by Nordstrom, $700.

(2--Color) He loved her little suede lace-up dress by Nanette Lepore, $270, topped with an iridescent orange jacket by Cizi, $200. His chocolate chenille turtleneck sweater is by Belford, $98, worn with Vires slacks, $145. All fashions courtesy of Nordstrom, Topanga Plaza

(3--Color) Tired of all those schoolgirl plaids, she embraced autumn in her cashmere turtleneck sweater, $195, and long suede skirt, $495, both by DKNY, accented with a floral print scarf by Nordstrom, $96. She's wearing Lancome's Les Bordeaux Eyecolor Collection and Rouge Idole lipstick.

(4--Color) She entered the Browns Age in style, wearing a luminous rust-colored blouse by Go, $49, teamed with a chocolate suede Karen Kane vest, $138, caramel houndstooth pants by Peserico, $210, and an espresso-colored patent leather peacoat by Fendissime, $318. Her patent loafers are by d'Ro-Too, $89.95.

(5--Color) They're the toast of the town in brown. She's wearing an Ellen Tracy ensemble (jacket, $445; vest, $245; blouse, $175; pants, $245) and he's suited up in a Nathan David blazer, $295, with a Nordstrom dress shirt, $48.50, Robert Talbot metallic tie, $85, and Sterling slacks, $69.50.

(6--Color) She proved brown was never boring in her slinky embossed velvet sheath by Poleci, $104. On her nails she wore Chanel's Metal Garnet.

John McCoy/Daily News

(7) Nicole Kidman

(8) Cybill Shepherd

(9) Heather Locklear

(10) Diana Ross

Box: Browns for all seasons