And last Saturday in Ottawa, it was in the alcohol too.

The LCBO on Rideau Street held a fashion show in its quarters, in conjunction with the launch of Roberto Cavalli Vodka, which premiered at the LCBO about a week ago.

According to Gary Starmer, who helped organize the liquor side of the event, the fashion event was the first of its kind to be held in any liquor store in Ontario.

Starmer helped to run the tasting of Fabiano wines at the event, Italian reds and whites, with each bottle sporting a fashionable label.

The day was planned by Michelle Millette, special events co-ordinator for the LCBO. Millette said the idea came to her because of the LCBO’s new advertising campaign that focuses on style and luxury.

Roberto Cavalli is one of the best known high-end, luxury fashion designers in the world, and his designs dress the rich and famous worldwide.

It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that a 750 mL bottle of the Italian vodka retails at the LCBO for $87.40. Even the bottle is chic: frosted glass with a snake curving around its tall, slim shape — a silhouette not unlike the models who walked in the show.

Millette said her idea for the event took off once she found out about Spade magazine.

Spade is a new Canadian design and style venture based out of Ottawa, launched in part by Carleton journalism grad Daniel Mackinnon.

Mackinnon is also the editor-in-chief of Spade, and was in attendance at the event to help promote his new enterprise.

The event kept things local, and included businesses and individuals who were friends of Mackinnon and his business partner Ruby Cheng.

Melanie Bélanger, for instance, styled the models’ hair for the show but also styled the hair for one of the fashion spreads in Spade. Incidentally, one of the models from the same spread walked in Saturday’s show.

Millette mentioned that when planning the event, she searched for Roberto Cavalli clothing to show, but it were nowhere to be found in Ottawa.

So she went for what she called the next best thing: Victoire Boutique.

Victoire owners Régine Paquette and Katie Frappier, also friends of Mackinnon, created eight different looks to be showcased during the day, made up mostly of Canadian designers.

“We only do fashion shows that we can control the aesthetic points of,” Frappier said.

About every 20 minutes for most of the afternoon, the DJ would play just a little louder, and shoppers would be dazzled by a collection of young models walking the “catwalk” in the middle of the LCBO.

Frappier described Ottawa as primarily a working city, where people need clothes that can transcend from 9- to-5 jobs to “cinq- à-sept cocktails.”

Both she and Paquette described Ottawa as a city that loves the outdoors, a fact that was reflected in the fabrics people choose to wear.

Victoire also carries a number of “eco-friendly” labels, like Passenger Pigeon, a Toronto-based design company.

Frappier said that Ottawa isn’t as showy as Toronto or Montréal, and people here aren’t as “brand-conscious.”

But she and Paquette agreed: Ottawa definitely does have style.