Subversive design, radical Germans, and cultured holidays – the week in art

The V&A celebrates design as a form of protest, Isa Genzken brings her radical vision to Edinburgh, and we showcase the best exhibitions to catch on your summer travels – all in your weekly art newsletter

Why New York’s Metropolitan museum is leader of the free world of art

The Met, all set to rebuild its modern wing, mixes Rembrandts with Pollocks to create an unrivalled cocktail of past and present. Why can’t British art museums be as open-minded?

Curators may be sceptical but branding is vital for museums

The Tate and British Museum are among institutions that have adopted brand thinking – taken seriously, it can help our scholarship reach more people

Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty show to come to London

Fashion designer’s retrospective, the eighth most visited exhibition in Metropolitan Museum’s 142-year history, to be at V&A in 2015

Dolce & Gabbana versus Victoria Beckham: a great fashion comic-spat

From Karl Lagerfeld to Roberto Cavalli, fashion is an industry packed with outlandish characters who revel in playfully picking fights

From bomb sites to Bulgari: V&A falls under the spell of Italian glamour

A new exhibition charts how postwar Italy transformed the world’s perceptions of it, using its greatest export: style