By Robert Kahn STAFF WRITER, NEWSDAY

Fernanda Tavares says there's more than one way to, well, uh, skin a cat.

When PETA protesters in November rushed the catwalk at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Tavares was just a couple of strides behind fellow Brazilian supermodel - and target - Gisele Bundchen, who was accused of being "Fur Scum."

"It was a little bit scary for us, because we were just working," Tavares says.

But yesterday, there was the 5-foot-10 glamazon sitting in the front row for the PETA-sponsored Gaelyn & Cianfarani show.

"I don't think going out on a runway and attacking the models is the right way to show you don't like something. But this - having a show that doesn't use leather or fur - is," Tavares said of the East Village designers' new wares, which included latex dresses and a trenchcoat made of rubber recycled from old tires.

Tavares, who this week has worked the runways for Sean Combs and Diane von Furstenberg, says she was actually a natural convert to the PETA cause.

"I was concerned because Gisele is my friend, but I also wanted to talk to them because I'm against fur and there was a side of me that was happy it happened," she admits.

PETA's newest supporter says she is still willing to work a show that features real fur, but refuses to wear it herself. And she has made her spindly- legged runway sisters one promise. Says Tavares: "I would never go attack someone."