That was what was described in the script.

When I redesigned the look of Krypton, on Dick Giordano's order, I strove to make it look alien, not "futuristic". Anyone who has ever watched "Bladerunner" knows how fast our vision of the future changes nowadays!

The "New Krypton" look shown in MOS was terrific. Too many times, it seems that an alien culture settles on wearing one outfit-- as Jerry Seinfeld said, they say "we look pretty good in this, why don't we all wear it?"-- and it's some body stocking with little shoulder pads or whatever.

JB's Kryptonians looked different-- and I loved it!

Gregg - Did Elson paint some of the covers for the novelisations of the episodes, or the novels featuring The Doctor that weren't based on the show?

The "New Adventures" series that ran from 1991 to 1997, with original stories of the 7th Doctor set after Survival.  I just sold Time's Crucible (with a great Elson rendition of my beloved Sophie Aldred on the cover) on E-Bay.

I had always assumed that the Kryptonians were based on Caspay from Beneath the Planet of the Apes based mainly on the sash and head gear. I guess that shows how much our own backgrounds will affect what we see. This was the best photo I could find. The second is a different character, but his uniform is similar to Caspay's.

John Byrne wrote:

QUOTE: A classic example of what happens when something becomes carved in stone. The design of Kryptonian clothing was "futuristic" to an audience weaned on Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, but, except for minor tweaks that basically came from artistic styles rather than conscious decisions, those designs remained unchanged for the next fifty years. Cool became corny -- as it often does.

Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers on Krypton....