Yes you can achieve this in WPF; you can use a Trigger as described in the MSDN article: How to: Use Triggers to Style Selected Items in a ListView.
A complete sample is also available for download.
I am uncertain if this is possible in WinForms.
Update: In response to the question in the comment below this is definitely possible. Once again there is a sample online at MSDN titled ListView That Sorts Data Sample.
Richard C. McGuire
2009-06-15 17:10:21