MOSCOW (AFP) - Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and with a cocktail in hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin looks confident underneath the words "Greetings from Crimea".

This is just one of the many variations of Putin-themed T-shirts being snapped up by patriotic shoppers in Moscow, as the Russian leader basks in record popularity at home.

Though he may have drawn scorn from the international community for his annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula, opinion polls show that nearly 80 per cent of Russians approve of the move.

At Moscow's famous Gum department store, just a few metres from the Kremlin, around 100 shoppers were jostling to get to wear the strongman on their chest.

"For the first time since I was born, I am proud of my country, of the decisions taken by my president," said Ms Tatyana Kobyakova, who bought a dozen T-shirts for her husband, her parents and friends.

Fashion designers were keen to take advantage of Mr Putin's spike in popularity.

"It was a good time to launch these. Putin is a media star, very popular at the moment," said Ms Anna Trifonova.

Ms Trifonova said she sold more than 100 T-shirts at US$35 each in less than an hour.

For some, the T-shirt is a patriotic purchase. Others, however, just think it's cool.

"You have stop thinking so much, it's just a T-shirt, just fashion," said Russian rapper Dzhigan.

But Mr Putin does make it special, he added. "Our president has style, and we want to wear a portrait of him."