Newspaper's lead article has sharp material (7)
I believe the answer is:
nankeen
'material' is the definition.
(nankeen is a type of material)
'newspaper's lead article has sharp' is the wordplay.
'lead' suggests taking the first letters.
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'sharp' becomes 'keen' (similar in meaning).
The first letter of 'newspapers' is 'n'.
'n'+'an'+'keen'='NANKEEN'
(Other definitions for nankeen that I've seen before include "Yellowish cotton cloth" , "Durable yellow cotton fabric, originally from China" , "Buff-coloured cotton fabric" , "Buff-coloured cotton cloth" , "mustard colour" .)