Tom Ford held a private viewing Sunday night of his new film, A Single Man, and despite the gay love story, the renowned designer told his audience that he did not want it defined as a gay movie.

Director Mike Nichols hosted the event on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Speaking to an audience that included fellow designer Zac Posen, Ford discussed his first time directing a feature film.

“It’s extremely autobiographical,” Ford said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “When you watch it, you are inside my head for an hour and a half.”

Set in early-1960s Los Angeles, the plot revolves around a day in the life of a gay British English professor as he copes with the sudden death of his longtime partner.

Ford recognizes that his film is not conventional, but he also does not want it to be reduced simply to a gay movie.

“I wasn’t trying to make Terminator 12. But this is not a gay film,” added Ford. “I don’t even think about that. There are so many gay characters on TV that it’s almost become a cliché.”