The makers of Gore-Tex are no longer content to be prized solely by rugged outdoor types fond of high-performance shoes and dry feet. The makers of the waterproof breathable fabric known as Gore-Tex now also want to be fashion-forward in the casual footwear market.

W.L. Gore & Associates, the Delaware firm responsible for Gore-Tex, recently launched a marketing campaign called, "How Far Can One Pair Go?" Part of the campaign’s mission is to alert the world that Gore-Tex-lined footwear is now popping up in the casual shoe collections of such footwear companies as Timberland Co. of Stratham, N.H.; New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. of Boston; and the Clarks Companies, the British cobbler that has its North American headquarters in Newton, W.L. Gore said.

At Clarks, business unit director Glen Arentowicz wants to talk about the Street Lo, his company’s brown leather nubuck lined with Gore-Tex. (A photo from the Clarks website is shown at right.) Thanks to the Street Lo, which has a suggested retail price of $150, a consumer no longer needs to make a trade-off between fashion statements and dry feet.

"It’s meant for Casual Fridays and bad weather days," Arentowicz said of the Street Lo. "When it snows, you can go to the office and still look good. You don’t have to wear clunky three-color boots anymore."

Not that clunky three-color boots are bad business. At a time when the US athletic footwear industry is hurting from the recession, the hiking boot category is particularly strong. (Also holding up: the category for dressy women’s shoes. A recent New York Times story noted that one way that women cope with the recession is to go shoe-shopping.)

According to the NPD Group Inc., a market research firm headquartered in Port Washington, N.Y., US sales in the overall athletic footwear category for the 12-month period that ended in August were just under $18.6 billion, down 2.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. One subcategory bucking the trend: hiking boots. Sales in that niche were up nearly 10 percent. Why? Hiking boots are popular with young adults and during a recession, folks are more likely to go on a camping trip or a day-trip hike in the White Mountains than spend big bucks on a fancy vacation, said Marshal Cohen, NPD’s chief industry analyst.

But here’s the rub for W.L. Gore: The hiking boot niche is comparatively small, accounting for about $857 million in sales for the 12-month period that ended in September. Casual athletic shoes, in contrast, made up a $5.2 billion category for that time frame, NPD said.

"Growth for them has to come outside their sweet spot," Cohen said of W.L. Gore and Gore-Tex. "And the casual shoe category is a logical progression for them."

Something else is at work here. When you’re selling casual shoes in the $150 range, you need to give today’s consumer a reason to buy a pair when money is so tight. And adding Gore-Tex to a casual shoe can convince consumers that spending some extra money is well worth it.

"In today’s world, product enhancements are the main components of growth in this tough economy," Cohen said.

With that in mind, W.L. Gore looks to leverage Gore-Tex’s reputation and heritage among consumers may pays off. Years of ground work in performance shoes have left the general impression that Gore-Tex is an ingredient that can transform an ordinary hiking boot into a superb all-terrain vehicle for the feet. As a result, Gore-Tex has the potential to take on the aura of a luxury brand.

"People hear Gore-Tex, and they think, ‘Wow, this is a Cadillac,’" Arentowicz said of shoe-shopping consumers.

With its "How Far Can One Pair Go?" campaign, W.L. Gore is certainly seeking to reinforce that impression.

Part of that campaign is a partnership with Soles4Souls, an international shoe charity dedicated to providing shoes to people in need, W.L. Gore said in a press release. The campaign encourages consumers to donate shoes or funds to the charity through the end of the year. The company said it will donate $5 to Soles4Souls for each pair of the new casual shoes with Gore-Tex technology purchased through Gore comapny website during the campaign, up to a maximum total donation of $10,000.

"The question, How Far Can One Pair Go? also underscores the versatility and comfort of casual shoes with a Gore-Tex lining and encourages consumers to see how far they can go in these shoes,?the release added.

If shodding those in need isn’t a good enough reason to buy a shoe like the Clarks Street Lo, Arentowicz has one more.

"It’s a good travel shoe," he said. "If you’re going to Europe; you need to bring only one pair."