Call it a color conspiracy.

About six years ago, Color Marketing Group (CMG), a 36-year-old association of color designers from around the world, collaborated to make brown the color of the mid-1990s according to Thom A. Robinson at Color Portfolio, a New York-based color selection service.

Brown didn't catch on at first, Robinson explained, but persistence prevailed. "They were going to sell it until it sold. And they did it and it sold.

Now the fashion industry has done it again, and your brown wardrobe is on the way to becoming passe.

Long before this year's fall fashions were unleashed in Paris, Milan and New York, gray was predicted to be the color that would bring us into the new millennium.

Store fronts in preppy Harvard clothiers like Express and J. Crew now feature decapitated mannequins bearing winter collections in a thousand shades of gray.

This neutral color, say fashion retailer, is fast becoming the new basic for all wardrobes, and unlike the now-fading brown craze of the past two years, investing in gray may not only keep you a la mode today, but will probably be useful for many years to come.

"Gray is sort of replacing black this fall," said Patrick F. Duffy, sales associate at Australian clothier Country Road, 140 Newbury St. "It will be the new version of black."

That gray is the hot color now should not come as a surprise, Duffy said, "It all comes full circle. There are only so many colors to choose from. [Gray] is a very classic color, very traditional."

Color forecasters don't arbitrarily decide what hues should overtake your closet tomorrow, Robinson explains. Rather, they attempt to match colors with socioeconomic projections: bad economic forecasts, for example, might suggest bleak, subdued colors.

"Gray comes out of the political and social things of 'nothing is black and white anymore,' so it makes sense to be in the gray area of things," Robinson said.

However, for those whose fashion skin is deeper than the latest color craze, don't worry too much just yet about being a relic of the past.

"[Brown is] not obsolete," said Robinson, "but you're going to see less of it."

Even Brooks Brothers on 46 Newbury St. is embracing the gray theme, suggesting their clientele match conservative gold and burgundy, also popular colors for the winter, with a gray shirt or sweater. They currently offer an assortment of gold ties and shirts in their fast-turnover lines, collections rotated every six weeks to attract a younger customer base.

Of particular note at Brooks Bros. are $70 lightweight Merino wool v-neck, turtle and polo-style sweaters in variety of gray-friendly shades and hot-selling $68 mole-skin pants.

"We're been catering toward a younger clientele, but we're trying not to alienate our traditional customers," said a Brooks sales associate.

Yet, while Brooks has tried to have a little more edge, other clothiers have noticed people looking to a little more high-class.

"People are looking into luxury fabric," said Bernard F. Casey, a sales associate at London-based French Connection, at 206 Newbury St.

"What I mean be luxury is mohair, cashmere, extra-fine Merino wool, angora...People have the money to spend. People will buy classic pieces that will work for them in public life and at work."

The trend to luxury means cotton sweaters areout, wool and cashmere are in, say fashionretailers. And as the price of these formerlybourgeois fabrics are coming down, demand for finewoolens is skyrocketing.

"They must be breeding those goats like crazyto meet demand," Robinson said.

Finer fabrics are even making its way intocasual wear, Casey explained, pointing out theirpopular unlined, loose-fitting drawstring woolpants, running for $108.

While Newbury Street is on fashion's cuttingedge, Boston's department stores have not been hitby the gray craze yet.

At Filene's on 426 Washington St. at DowntownCrossing, the store is still selling bright winterjackets by Tommy Hilfinger and Calvin Klein indroves.

"[We're] a little bit louder. We're not assophisticated [as Newbury St.]," said SalesManager Nicole Soriano. "We do a huge brightbusiness."

While the fashion styles change consistently,people in New England must consider climate.

"People are much more looking for function,"Duffy said. "A wool over-coat will keep you warm,but it won't keep you dry [from rain]."

The New England weather also forces people tobe prepared for whatever is thrown at them bylayering.

"Because of the climate of the East Coast, youwant layering...You need to have clothes that areadaptable," Casey said.

While this certainly pertains to the weather,even high-end clothes are trying to becomefunctional. Lycra, the key ingredient of spandex,is even showing up in suits so there will be alittle more give when you head for recruitinginterviews this winter.

"People want to do more with their clothes. Youcan roll around in your suit, and you can stand upwithout a wrinkle on you," Robinson said.

Robinson also explained that clothes meant tolook good are starting to include more durablefabrics like nylon. This is accomplished through aprocess called core-spinning, where fine materiallike cashmere is spun around a core of asynthesized material like nylon, yielding a fabricwith properties different from pure cashmere withthe FEEL of cashmere.

"You still have the look--You don't have thelabel, but you have the look," Casey said